


Made of Metal

by CyrexWingblade



Series: Bunnie and Metic [2]
Category: Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (Cartoon), Sonic SatAM, Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types, Sonic the Hedgehog: The Animated Series
Genre: AU, F/M, SatAM setting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:14:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 69,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27436414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CyrexWingblade/pseuds/CyrexWingblade
Summary: Mobius is recovering from the tyranny of Robotnik, and Queen Sally Acorn is at the head of a flourishing society five years later. When a new threat raises its head, old allies must come together... if they don't fall apart first.
Relationships: Bunnie Rabbot/Metal Sonic, Sally Acorn/Sonic the Hedgehog
Series: Bunnie and Metic [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2004415
Kudos: 1





	1. Times Have Changed

**Author's Note:**

> The following is a sequel to Ghost in the Machine, but there has been an important style-change between the two stories beyond the plot. GitM was intended to be visualized in the same style as the actual cartoon. MoM is intended to be visualized differently, with a more realistic style. All of the characters have proportionate bodies, a more human-scale physique, and so on. A writer has no control over how the audience views the story, but this is the intended perspective of the characters for this fan-fiction.

The handful of clouds in the sky were small and wispy, leaving a huge expanse of clear blue to enjoy. Wind caressed his orange and white fur as he sailed through the air, his eyes closed with a soft smile. His ears rippled, and just as he began to fall, his eyes flashed open with a big smile, and Tails whirled his namesake appendages into a violent spin, rushing back up into the air before he fell too far. The young man was about as big as he was going to get, and was sporting a fashionable white shirt, baggy and long, past his waist, with baggy shorts down over his legs, and large sneakers on his feet. His slightly deeper voice rang out with a howl of delight as he swept into a loop, and flew straight up from the bottom of it.

“Yo! Tails! Don’t get lost, or your parents will give us all kinds of trouble!” the familiar, light voice of his childhood hero and long-time mentor called across the sky.

Tails twisted in mid-flight, grinning back at the floating ship as it glistened silver in the clear daylight, the vast, beautiful cityscape of Mobotropolis far below, sparkling white and pale gray with intricate highways and curving, organic buildings. A balcony on the side of the smooth, domed craft revealed Sonic the hedgehog, wearing some casual attire for a change from his favorite armored suit, consisting of a pale shirt under a red vest, long gray slacks, and heavily modified sneakers on his own feet as he crossed his arms, smirking out at the adolescent flyer, who was now as old as he had been when they took out Robotnik.

“Aw, come on, Sonic! I never get to fly this high!”

Grinning, Sonic called over, “Your aunts want to see you!”

Tails playfully slumped under his tails, and flew back to the floating ship, landing lightly near his mentor with practiced ease. He laughed as Sonic ruffled his ears, and pulled him along off the balcony. “It’s been ages since we all hung out together!” the young man commented happily.

Sonic nodded, his quills rustling a bit off the back of his head. “No kidding. That’s why Sally made such a big deal out of us all taking a break together. Things have been so busy with the city getting back to normal and everything.”

“Papa!” two high-pitched, adorable girl’s voice cried in delight from the large hall they two friends were moving into.

Knowing what was coming, Tails ducked out from Sonic’s arm, and let the old hero crouch down and catch two small blurs in his arms. “Hey! Who are these little speedy wonders?” he asked with a warm laugh as he picked the two girls up with his hug.

Both of them giggled happily, squirming around to return his hug. In his right arm was a small version of himself for all points save his gender, and finer quills on her head, clothed in a small set of pale shirt, and gray pants. Her big, black eyes were closed with her huge smile as she snuggled her father. In his left arm was an adorable inheritance of her mother’s features, with the flowing red hair already down to the middle of her neck, soft brown fur, paler along her chin and neck, and blazing blue eyes. She was clothed in a white shirt, with a pale blue vest so much like her mother’s old favorite, and brown pants leading down to little sneakers, like her sister and father’s, specially made.

Sonic had a huge smile on his face as he wiggled with his daughters, and then let them back down. He patted the blue girl’s head softly, a hand on the red-haired girl’s shoulder. “I think you guys are getting faster than me!”

They both shook their heads in bashful disbelief. The blue-eyed girl replied, “We’ll never be faster than you, Daddy!”

As Tails watched with a fond smile, the quilled girl added, “But I’ll get close!”

Sonic laughed, pulled them into another hug, and then let them go enough to stand up, offering his hands to them if they wanted to walk with him. They both did, but they also looked over to Tails with happy waves. “Hi, Uncle Tails!”

He flushed at the ‘title’, and waved back, “Hi Cathy,” he said to the red-haired girl. “Hey, Lita,” for the more hedgehog-like of the two.

The four of them quickly trotted down some wide-set stairs, reached a landing, turned down to a large, central chamber filled with lovely plants, benches for sitting, and lounge couches. And sitting in the comfy couches were practically all of their old friends. Sally got up in her loose, white blouse, and gray pants, smiling warmly as she came over to her returning husband and children.

Antoine was there, still wearing his old military jacket, with white, black-stripped pants leading down into his old boots, but he had a fond smile on his own face rather than the old annoyed look he used to give the adult hedgehog. He sat beside Rotor, who was just in his casual shirt with overalls, grinning himself across from Bunnie, who had been sitting beside Sally until the ruler of Mobius got up to greet her family and favorite nephew. Sir Charles remained seated, smiling broadly with his mustached face, wearing a gray vest, loose pants, and an old lab-coat.

Bunnie smiled brightly on her soft brown face, the richer color of her fur reaching all the way up to the tips of her ears, the left one flopped halfway down, with her well-made-up, sparkling green eyes. She was actually wearing a gray shirt under brown cargo-vest, with full cargo-pants in matching style, and large boots on her feet. Her puffy little tail still poked out of the back of her pants as she stood up.

“I see our princesses found the missing heroes!” Sally said happily, and since her husband had the girls, she happily yanked Tails into a squeezing hug. “Oh, Tails! It’s been so long! You’ve gotten so big!” Indeed, he was almost taller than she was now.

He blushed, smiling at her as they parted from their hug. “Yeah, I’ve really missed you guys! Thanks for letting me come up in this sky-garden, ‘your majesty’,” he playfully finished.

Sally swatted his shoulder. “Please! I’m nobody’s Queen up here. Well,” she gave her husband a wry smile, which he returned, “maybe one person’s.”

Sonic winked. “Always.”

The family and Tails hurried back to rejoin Bunnie and the others, where Bunnie finally got her chance to grab Tails, the young man happily returning it. “Aren’t you turnin’ into the handsomest little man, sugar? You must be beatin’ the girls off with those tails a-yours!”

He blushed, pulling away with a plaintive, “Aunt Bunnie!”

She winked, tussled his ears, and plopped down into the couch with him. Sally and Sonic sat back down, Cathy hopping into her mother’s lap, with Lita snuggling in beside her father, with Sir Charles chuckling warmly at them.

Antoine grinned. “It is a beautiful day, I am saying! And we are honored by our new princesses’ presence!”

The two young girls giggled. “Thanks, Uncle Antoine!”

Rotor chuckled as everyone shared a smile for the girls. “Ah, this is great, Sal. I didn’t realize how much I needed a break like this!”

“Nor I,” Uncle Chuck agreed easily. “Thanks a bunch, Sally.”

Sally nodded. “I figured that might be the case. Lupe was an angel and offered to handle business for us for a few days at the palace. I can’t tell you how nice it’s been to just unwind a bit! I barely took a break to have the girls!” she finished in exasperation, actually feeling guilty for how little time she’d taken on the matter.

Cathy just hugged her, and it made her mother coo and hold her close.

Bunnie grinned, lounging back comfortably beside Tails. “I’ll say. So come on, what y’all been up to recently? I’ve been helpin’ Rotor and Uncle Chuck with some a-their new toys for the city and restorin’ the forests around the place.” She reached her foot over and nudged the walrus’ knee of the pair. He tried to hide how much it made him blush at the attention, Uncle Chuck just laughing again. “So I can sure vouch for ‘em needin’ a darn break!”

Sonic chuckled. “You know him and Uncle Chuck, they never stop tinkering.”

Lita playfully wiggled her feet, “They made us shoes that don’t break!”

Sally blushed, and explained, “They were going through a pair every week with all their running…”

Antoine and the others chuckled, Bunnie saying, “That’s just adorable, sugar. So you two little darlin’s faster ‘an your daddy yet?” she asked as she leaned out to look at the girls directly, mischief twinkling in her eye.

Cathy giggled, shyly hiding against her mother as she shook her head, but Lita was emphatic, “No way! Papa’s the fastest ever!”

Sonic grinned, and patted her closer to his side as a playful hug. “My biggest fans.”

Bunnie grinned. “And why not? But don’t sell yourselves short, girls,” she winked. “You’ll be givin’ him a good go for his money in no time.”

“Don’t remind me,” Sonic groaned in mock-despair.

This just let everyone laugh again. After some more happy discussion, Tails looked around, and asked, “Oh, I was just wondering if Dulcy was going to visit?”

Sally pouted, shaking her head. “She’s helping the dragons get reorganized at their main spire still. She wanted to come, but it just didn’t work out.”

Sir Charles gave a half-grin to the young fox. “Plenty of eggs to watch, I hear.”

Tails smiled, but was still disappointed even though he understood the problem. “Oh, what about Metic?”

Bunnie smiled, and looked up at Sally and her husband. “Yeah, where is ole sugar-bot? He’s almost dropped off the face a-the planet!”

Sally gave a helpless smile. “He’s really busy with police work.”

“Yeah, he’s actually the chief of police now,” Sonic added. “Scares the wits out of most criminals when they see him coming, too.”

Bunnie giggled with the others. “I bet, but I feel bad with him not here.”

Sally shrugged. “I sent him a notice about the get-together today, but he just replied with an apology and said he couldn’t.”

Antoine frowned. “That is most unfortunate, nes pa? Is he not lonely?” He chuckled, “Or has he found himself a companion by now?”

“I doubt that,” Sir Charles muttered in mild humor.

Bunnie rolled her eyes, “That tin-can would quicker fly to the moon than just talk to someone, poor thing. I swear. I’ve half a mind to march on down there and haul ‘im up here with us!”

Sally giggled, “You’re about the only person who could get away with that, too.”

Bunnie smirked at her friend’s poking at the robot’s obvious attentions to the rabbit during the Robotnik war. Rotor, however, shrugged, and asked, “Well do we know if he’s busy right now? We could contact him at the police station…”

Sonic shrugged. “We could… but I get the idea he’s keeping himself pretty busy…”

* * *

Down in the city, one of the major highways was a wide, clean surface with numerous hover-cars rushing in both directions. One stretch of the highway ran past and beneath a large edifice that rose up, and spread out over the air a bit for all the offices and hangars for patrol units. That very moment, two police craft, lights flashing, shot after a large cargo-hauler that was speeding dangerously down that stretch of the highway. In the right police vehicle, actually one of the old hover-heads remodeled and painted for Mobian police, a female wolf raised a comm to her lips. “Officers need assistance. We have a dangerous speeder here. The vehicle is modified, we’re having a hard time keeping up.”

Up on the large building they were passing under, lights began to flash in warning red as a low, cool, electronic voice replied to the woman’s communication. “I’ll handle this one.”

The woman blinked down at her comm. “Commander Metic, sir?”

The red lights surrounded an opening, hydraulic hangar-bay door, revealing the lone figure of Metic to the sunlight as it dropped him down into place. His body was almost entirely layered, intricate black metal, with diamond glass pipes, panels, and domes along various parts of his structure. His limbs were long and slender, almost skeletal, but his torso was broad and tall. His vented faceplate gushed fresh mist as his red optics flashed, and the three blade-fins on the back of his head revved to life with that ominous, mechanical roar. “Yes. Break off your pursuit, I’ll handle this.”

The two cruisers eased away from the cargo-hauler zooming down the highway, only for a sonic-boom to shake the city. Metic shot down the side of the police headquarters, his legs shattering into a jagged, shimmering cloud beneath his leaned torso. Reaching full speed, white light began to bleed out of his diamond-glass parts, and he rocketed into the air as he body coiled into a violent ball, shooting out, and rushing down. He slammed down into the highway just behind the cargo-hauler, and shot after it like a bolt.

The cargo-hauler, which resembled one of the standard hover-drones, but with a large, rectangular box behind the cockpit instead of the small bulbous body, had surprising speed, and was obviously modified, as the officer had reported. There was a big difference between a modified transport and Metic, however.

Blasting thrusters off the back, lower rim, the vehicle shot ahead, and started to weave dangerously through traffic. Metic kept up, occasionally snapping a hand out with his white energy-field to stabilize a civilian vehicle before it careened out of control. Unbelievably as the highway bent down to the right, the fleeing hauler shot over the side of the road, and started to rip along the face of one of the larger arches that were part of the city’s overall design.

Metic’s optics sharpened to slits, his blade-fins revved again, and he tore off the road himself, then flew up the side of the building. The hauler and the robot were both upside down, rushing along the inside of the top of the arch. Aiming to end this chase, Metic blazed with his energy, and shot around the vehicle, but the driver was skilled. It juked left and right as Metic tried to sweep into it in controlled impacts, never letting him hit it.

They reached the base of the arch, the hauler swerving off, gliding through the air, and slamming down into a park that led out to the bay that had been restored since Robotnik’s defeat. Metic slammed into the ground, and shot after them. In a few seconds they were blazing across the water, trails flying dozens of meters into the air in their wakes. His blade-fins revved again, but Metic jerked faintly, the fins halting awkwardly, and drifting to loose stops. “This has to stop,” Metic said to himself, and his speed intensified more mechanically. He reached out, bared his left claw, and slammed it down into the thruster on the back of the vehicle on its right.

Tearing it open, the thruster exploded, and Metic slid along the water as the flames sprayed him, the vehicle sputtering to a halt. Generating a small field under his feet, he stayed on the surface of the water, and watched as several cruisers came sweeping in to arrest the driver and see what he was so eager to get out of town with.

“Nice one, Commander! No way we could’ve caught him without your help!” one of the more excited officers, clearly young, exclaimed over the comm.

Metic just waved up at them, and gave a quick dash to the shoreline, where he stopped, and actually let his filters cycle for a moment, his body flexing with the moving air. In his vision, red-tinted as it was, various graphs were visible on the sides of his view, but a warning was flashing down at the bottom left, labeled ‘power drain’. He shook his head, and walked along. “I’m getting too old for this…”

Another cruiser floated down near him on the beach, and the female officer who had first called for assistance spoke from its external comm. “Can we give you a lift, sir?”

He looked up at them with slanted optics, and then nodded. “If you don’t mind.”

* * *

Back at the police headquarters, Metic sat behind a desk in a surprisingly small office with a small computer on the left side of his desk, windows behind him showing the same stretch of highway that ran beside and under the building, and large filing cabinets along either wall. He was inputting something on the computer when his door knocked. “Enter,” he muttered distantly.

A young wolf officer stepped inside, the little glow in his blue eyes marking a bit of awe with his small smile as he stood to attention. “Officer Lance, sir. I just transferred to the central unit.”

Metic looked up at him, hands still typing, nodding. “Ah, yes. Welcome to central, Officer Lance. Is there anything I can help you with?”

He seemed a bit flustered, but happy, stepping a bit closer. “I just want to say what an honor this is, sir. You’re a living legend.”

Metic’s optics narrowed in an oblong manner, incredulous as his hands finally stopped moving. “You’re not confusing me with Sonic, surely?”

Lance laughed a bit. “No, no! Not at all, sir. You maybe don’t realize how much of an example you set for us. Did you know there’s a whole group of cadets who are pushing for an officially sanctioned roboticizer to let them work the way you do?” He grinned. “I was one of them, but then I actually graduated!”

The robotic chief of police turned grave. “I see. You want to be like me?”

Lance nodded. “Absolutely, sir! I mean, I know I can’t do the things you can do, but it’s nice to have a high goal, right?”

Metic nodded, but stood up, and came around his desk, leaning back against it. “If such a roboticizer was made, would you volunteer?”

“I’d be first in line!”

The robot looked down for a moment, and then focused back on the young wolf Officer. “Lance, you need to understand something.”

Realizing he’d done something wrong, the rather anxious wolf stood back to attention, swallowing a lump in his throat. “Sir!”

Metic waved the formality down, and looked the young Officer in the eyes. “I would trade every bit of speed, power, energy, and durability this body gives me for just one moment of what you were born with.”

Lance’s brow creased. “W-what is that, sir?”

The robotic hedgehog slowly raised one mechanical hand. “You can feel warmth. Tell me, Officer Lance, do you have family?”

The wolf was caught, but managed, “I’m seeing someone, actually, sir…”

Metic nodded. “She’s why you do this job, isn’t she?”

“Of course!”

The robot calmly replied, “And I can’t have that.”

Lance blinked, looking at the robot more seriously, realizing what he was talking about finally. “I’m… very sorry, sir. I didn’t mean to offe--?”

Metic just shook his head. “I’m a resource for the department, and I can think, that’s the only reason I’m in this position. Keep your wits about you, and remember not to take stupid risks. Welcome to central.”

Officer Lance stuttered a nod, and muttered his thanks before rushing out of the office. Metic looked down at his hand, flexing it open and closed slowly. An image of Bunnie smiling at him, when she had just gotten her organic limbs back, flashed in his memory systems, and he clamped his fist shut, dismissing the image as he stood up. As he walked around his desk, however, he stumbled, his optics flickering, and his body giving a falling moan of dying power. He slipped to one knee, his body rattling a bit, and then the drain faded, and he was able to stand up with his optics bright again.

Just as he sat down, the computer on the desk gave a light, trilling beep. Intrigued, an optic-ridge up, he opened the digital message, and his face went slack. “…’Queen Sally Acorn requests your presence at the palace at your nearest convenience, so get your metal butt down to the palace sugar-bot’,” he muttered aloud, his voice monotone despite the wording clearly coming from Bunnie (and probably Sally herself).

That image returned to his memory system, and his optics shut as he turned the computer off with a firm press of one metal digit. _She remembers me still… I feel so strange. I can’t let you be hurt, Bunnie…_ But a summons was a summons. He stood up, and touched the comm on his desk.

“Yes, sir?” an attentive female voice asked at the touch of the button.

“I have been requested at the royal palace. Please redirect my business for the afternoon.”

“Yes, sir!” the voice replied quite pleasantly.

“Thank you.”

He walked around the desk, and left his office.

* * *

At the end of a beautiful hallway in the upper spire of the palace, a pair of silver doors slid open to the sides, revealing Metic standing in the lift chamber, his face rather grim considering he had been called up to visit old friends. Already, the happy voices of Queen Acorn, Minister Sonic, Bunnie herself, Antoine, Rotor, Tails, and the two young princesses were clear to his audio receptors, and it made his optics dim, his fists clenching briefly. Filtering air through his face-plate, he stepped into the hall, and smoothly walked down the path with little hisses and clicks from his body.

Down the hall, through a doorway in the left wall, the group of old friends were chatting away in a large, comfortable sitting room. It was arranged like a ring, with other doors on the far side. At the moment, two little blurs were racing around the edge of the room, their parents both happy to let the two princesses run as they sat together on one of the couches. Bunnie was lounged back as before, between Rotor and Antoine, Sir Charles on Rotor’s other side, with Tails grinning from an ataman in the center, his namesakes flitting up and down alternately.

Lita and Cathy skidded to a stop together just at the doorway from the hall, blinking up at the towering robotic figure just leaning around the edge. The girls’ stopping brought the groups attention over there, and upon seeing Metic hesitantly leaning into view, they stood up in a hail of greetings.

“Monsieur Metic!”

“Metic!” Sally and the others joined Antoine in moving over to the robot at the doorway.

Bunnie actually hung back a bit, but was grinning as Sonic clapped the awkward robot on the shoulder, Tails playfully compared heights, and Sally actually hugged him. Metic did his best to return the hug carefully, and looked down, halting awkwardly as the two young girls came up to his legs, tapping the metal at his shins.

“You’re all black and shiny!” Lita proclaimed.

“And you have spooky eyes!” Cathy added with a hop up and down.

Metic’s optics tightened, and Sally chided her daughters, “Girls! Don’t be rude. Metic is a friend of Mommy and Daddy. Don’t say he’s spooky!”

The girls pouted, but Metic raised his hand a bit, his optics slanted with a dry smile, “I’m a black-metal war-machine, Queen Acorn, I think ‘spooky’ fits.”

Lita giggled happily, Cathy hiding her amusement behind Sally’s leg, and even Uncle Chuck was hiding a grin behind his fist and quick ‘cough’, but the Queen herself laughed warmly up at him. “That’s sweet of you, Metic, but they really shouldn’t say things like that to guests.” Looking down to them, she added firmly, “Isn’t that right, girls?”

“Yes, Mama…” they chorused. “Sorry, Mr. Metic.”

Metic just shook his head, and awkwardly stepped into the living-room proper with the group. Bunnie was waiting there, hands on her hips. “Where on Mobius have you _been_ , Sugar-bot? We haven’t seen you in ages!”

The others started to sit down as he actually reached back, his hand scraping down the back of his head, as if scratching his hair nervously. “I had work, Bunnie. An official summons,” he nodded to Sally, “however… _liberally_ worded,” he let his dry humor return a bit for Bunnie again, “overrode my business for the afternoon.”

Bunnie grinned at him, “Fair enough, I suppose, Sugar-bot. Now gimme a hug!”

Sonic blinked as he saw how almost painfully awkward Metic was just before Bunnie wrapped her arms around him. The robot’s hands shivered before they came up, and barely touched the rabbit woman’s shoulders. “I am glad to see you are all well,” he said calmly.

Bunnie noticed his strange manner quite well, and eased away from him with a worried flash in her eyes. His optics just fell away from hers, to Rotor. The walrus blinked, Uncle Chuck not missing a bit of it, but Bunnie looked to him as well, following Metic’s focus, and smiled at Rotor herself. This let Metic move away, and stand off to the side.

No one missed the strange moment, but Bunnie just sat back down, trying to smile. Sally eyed Metic with concern of her own for a heart-beat, hugging her children on the couch, but finally just said to the group, “Well, at least we’re all here, or just about.”

Sonic smirked, and then glanced up and off. “Don’t even wanna think about the work piling up for me at the office. I swear, without these little wonders,” he tussled his daughters’ hair and quills, “I’d be going bonkers in this job.”

Bunnie focused on him curiously. “Anythin’ in particular buggin’ ya, sugar-hog?”

The old hero shrugged. “We have some heat coming down on us from the public because of Snively. A lot of people want him to stand trial for what he did under Ro-butt-nik, even after Sally pardoned him for all his help with cleaning up the city.”

Sally nodded. “And he’s still helping us out quite a bit, honestly. I mean, yeah, he’s the same pompous jerk, but you can’t take away what he’s done.”

Rotor rolled his eyes. “He’s just making sure _you_ don’t turn on him, Sally. If Robotnik came back, he’d be back on the big toad’s pay-roll in a split-second.”

“Oh, leave the poor, hook-nosed twit alone,” Bunnie waved it down casually, propping her boots on the ataman Tails was sitting on. “Yeah, he’s just survivin’, but he’s done enough for this world, and he’s not makin’ any more messes either. That’s enough for me. I just don’t wanna see anythin’ like Robotnik again…”

Sir Charles nodded. “Not to mention he’s found it quite pleasant under you, Sally, compared to his late uncle.”

Antoine started to voice his view of the former right-hand of Robotnik, but Bunnie hopped up to excuse herself to the lady’s room. She brushed past Metic, but his optics never met her eyes despite her looking at him, and his body shifting further away to make room for her path.

Tails grinned over at the robot. “Metic, is the police-work exciting? I heard you’ve been the big guy behind a lot of major busts!”

As all eyes returned to him, the robot tilted his head down to the side, Sonic smirking at him, “No kiddin’, we’ve gotten a few reports on ya up here, ya crazy tin-can.”

Metic gave a calm smile with his optics. “Just… helping out around the city.”

Sally gave him a knowing smile.

“Sugar-bot’s just bein’ bashful!” Bunnie said as she marched back into the room.

Metic glanced aside, but didn’t turn to her. Instead, just as she neared the chairs, she gave a light yelp, stumbling forward. Before even Sonic or the girls were up, Metic was there holding Bunnie from falling flat, one hand under her right one, his other on her shoulder. She blinked, looking into his optics, and curiosity fell over her features as his optics flared in some kind of panic before he quickly set her upright on her feet, and retreated from her. “My apologies…”

She giggled, the others chuckling or laughing lightly. “Just bein’ a klutz, darlin’. Thanks a heap for the catch!”

Metic’s head ‘nodded’, though it more resembled a motor-tick-jerk than anything else. “I’m afraid I,” he looked to Sally, stepping back from the group, “just recalled a very important task. If I don’t tend to it personally, it will be a serious problem. Please forgive me.” He started to bow and move away.

Everyone was stunned, Bunnie twisting to follow him. “You gotta be kiddin’, sugar-bot. Ya just got ‘ere!”

He bumped into the wall as he backed up. “I do beg your pardon. I must go. Thank you for letting me visit. Good bye.”

And he was gone even faster than he’d arrived.

Bunnie was left, mouth agape, blinking at his departure. Antoine was stunned himself, looking over to the Queen and her husband, “Whut… ‘appened ‘ere?”

Sally herself was at a loss, Sonic blinking at the empty doorway. The old hero managed, “Is it just me… or was he crawling the walls just to get away from us?”

Sir Charles was eyeing the doorway shrewdly, and Bunnie relaxed finally, her expression a little sad as she look at the door. “…Not all a-us…”


	2. Mobotropolis Zone

It was a peaceful afternoon a few days later. The industrial part of the city, clean-running thanks to Sir Charles and Rotor’s improvements since even the peak days before Robotnik’s rule, was running normally, with transport trucks leaving the various factories, joining the highway traffic with the other hover-vehicles. No one noticed that one of the factories had gone silent along one of the main thoroughfares. Not until klaxons finally blazed all around its boxy, layered structure, and the main hangar door blew apart from a long, multi-compartment transport truck bursting through it, careening out into the road. Vehicles swerved and arced into the air just to avoid the crazed transport, which immediately swerved to its left, and struck out down the path, weaving around slower vehicles like a snake.

Such a sudden disruption gave the police a difficult time catching up. They were alerted in seconds, but it took several minutes for the first hover-vehicles to rush down into the wake of the weaving, speeding truck. Like a silver bullet-train, the transport was moving with incredible speed for such a large craft. The police craft kept up, and announced warnings. “Pull over immediately! You have twenty seconds before we attempt to stop you with force!”

The truck did not seem disturbed, and followed the highway as it arced high over a suburban area, rushing back toward downtown Mobotropolis. Inside one of the chasing police craft, a shrew man hissed in aggravation, “What is with these transport vehicles this week!?”

His partner, an older goat, shook his head as he prepared a targeting computer on the back of the truck, a grid glowing on his face from the screen. “Not sure. Probably just a coincidence though. Two industrial thefts in the same week and all that. Target secure within an eighty-eight percent chance because of all the weaving.”

The comm crackled with similar reports of target lock from other police craft.

Picking up a comm device himself, the shrew shouted another warning from a speaker on the hull of his craft. “Stop now, or we will fire!”

But the truck sped on, and even as the four police craft opened fire with nose-mounted lasers, the speeding vehicle just jerked harder and more harshly to either side, starting to ram vehicles off the road at dangerous speeds.

“If he wasn’t such a pain in the tail, I’d compliment the driver!” the goat growled, squeezing off a few more shots. One shot finally clipped the back of the truck’s last compartment, but aside from causing it to partially dip and spark off the highway, the truck never slowed or showed any sign of giving up its escape.

Suddenly, the truck swirled around in the middle of the high-way, wrenching itself into a whirling mass, batting other vehicles to either side, and sending a few clear off the sides of the road, flying down toward slower streets below the elevated road-way. Police craft broke off the pursuit to shoot down and fire-off magnet-grippers to the falling vehicles to prevent a complete disaster, leaving only the craft piloted by the shrew and goat.

“Great shades of Mobius! This one is completely nuts!” the shrew snapped, watching the truck swerve out of it spin to simply keep charging along.

The goat simply fired off a few more rounds.

At last, the shrew picked up his comm, changing a setting on the side. “This is unit seven-seven-one, we have an extremely dangerous perpetrator Northbound on Skyway nine. Repeat, extremely dangerous. Calling for full support.”

After a heart-beat, an electronically filtered, cool, low voice replied, “This is Commander Metic. Speed of the pursuit?”

“In excess of two-hundred, sir!”

“I’ll join it myself. Stay on target.”

“Sir!”

The goat raised an eyebrow over at his partner. “He’s getting a work out this week, too.”

The shrew just smirked. “As long as I get home tonight.”

Surging down into the skyscrapers of central Mobotropolis, the truck continued to push its main pursuer to the limit of its own engines, speeding along, down another hill, where the skyway joined a wider, ground-set highway with a central wall dividing the two, broad sets of lanes.

Just as it reached the highway, the truck gained a new tail. Metic himself burst off a frontage road, spinning into a blurred metal ball, and slammed down onto the highway, where he rocketed after the careening, swerving truck.

A handful of other police units came flying in from the sides as Metic reached out to grab the back of the truck. The moment his hand touched it, however, the entire segment of the truck came loose, violently snapping off the highway itself from the loss of power to its hover-coils, flipping over Metic. No one else could even follow it for the speed, but Metic ducked his head under one edge, looked up, and snapped his arm back, catching the rim that was the top of the segment’s front.

Metic was yanked out of his run, but the cargo-trailer was slammed flat instead of bouncing dangerously back into other vehicles.

“Did you see that!?” one of the police units exclaimed, the pilot and navigator gawking at the feat of strength.

Metic didn’t pause, however, twisting and shooting after the truck, his blade-fins revving with their unnatural roar as white power began to bleed out of his body. Catching back up to the truck as it took a hard turn to the right, the waters of the docks visible ahead, Metic’s optics flared again as the last two containers on the back of the truck snapped loose in sequence. One flipped and twisted violently to the left as he approached, the other twirling up into the air, and slamming into a police unit, cleaving partially into its nose.

Not wasting time to speak orders, Metic flashed with white light, and blitzed into a crazed pattern of glowing streaks across the highway and into the air, slamming the left container down violently, and slicing the other to pieces until he appeared, crouched on the nose of the falling police craft, using his energy to engulf it and surf it down after the truck.

“Pilot, can you land this craft?” he asked aloud, but his voice was doubled into an internal comm system.

A younger man’s voice answered, “Sir, yes, sir! Thank you!”

Metic just nodded without looking into the cockpit, and flipped off, landing at full speed as that police craft glided off to land, too damaged to help in the pursuit.

With some of the tall arches and larger skyscrapers shading the stretch of road the chase was on, Metic sped up to catch the truck itself, still juking around wildly, yet with great skill, avoiding the support fire from the other police craft.

It was too fast for most to see, but Metic twitched. His optics dimmed for a heart-beat, and he partially stuttered with his legs, losing speed for a split-second, but he quickly sped up again, more white power rushing out of his body. _I have to finish this quickly._ Focusing, his blade-fins revving once more, he gave a finally surge of his maximum speed. He reached out, but just as his mechanical claw was about to clamp onto the back of the vehicle, he heard it. A building, pulsing hum, some kind of high-energy device building up.

His optics flared with alarm. “All units fall back! Fall ba--!”

He never finished his orders as the back of the truck exploded around a beam of pink-white power. Metic was thrown back violently, scraping and bouncing down the highway as the ruined truck slammed down and skidded to a halt, leaving a huge crater of flash-melted highway in its wake.

“What’s going on down there!?” one of the other police units demanded as the four of them remaining in the chase hovered over the crater.

Metic groaned electronically, his body clicking as he stood up hundreds of meters away. He quickly burst up to the crafter itself, skidding to a sharp stop, but his sensors immediately locked on the truck again.

Pink-white light flared inside the ruined vehicle just before the roof was torn open, and a blur of the same glowing colors shot up into the air… and slammed to a landing on the other side of the crafter, slowly rising to _her_ feet.

Immediately apparent was her inorganic nature. Her body was almost entirely white, reflective material in layered, intricate, full design, like tight-fitting armor. Embedded in her chest, outer forearms, outer thighs, and knees were rich, glowing purple crystals, smooth and oval in shape. Her ‘hair’ was long and thick, curving down over her back, but it was made entirely of glowing crystals, like the gems held by her body. Her face was smooth, white like her body, but flowed and shifted too smoothly to be a solid mass. Her eyes were glowing, pink suns, and her entire body bled with an aura of pink energy.

Resting one slender hand on her hip, she sneered devilishly at Metic. “You _are_ fast, aren’t you? Would you like to play with me?”

The robot narrowed his optics, but remained tense. “Stand down. You are under arrest for numerous felony traffic violations.”

She frowned darkly. “Don’t give me that tripe. Show me what you can DO!”

The glowing woman exploded toward him, Metic actually caught unawares by her speed. Those watching only saw a glowing, pink streak. Metic jerked back, only to catch her blazing right fist to his faceplate. The robotic hedgehog’s body gave a crashing din as he nearly snapped over himself, and flew back, skidding along the highway on his blade-fins before finally dropping flat.

Not pausing, the pink woman appeared over him, laughing with her exotic voice as her fist came rushing down at his head. Metic revealed himself as quite ready for her, his head snapping down to the right. Her fist lodged in the street, she blinked, and his left fist snap-rammed into her stomach. The woman hissed as her body gave an odd, crystalline chime, and she flew up into the air.

Metic flipped onto his feet, his optics focusing as his blade-fins revved, but he watched her halt, floating in mid-air as her aura burned with greater intensity. She grinned, raising her arms out to the sides. “I haven’t had this much fun since Master made me! Let’s play!”

This time, when she started to burst down toward him, Metic’s body flared with white energy, and he warped back, halting dozens of meters away in a fraction of a second just as she struck the street. A dome-wave of pink energy flew out from her impact, blasting police cruisers away like children’s toys in an instant. The wave vanished instantly, leaving the strange creature standing in a crater of vaporized metals and cement.

Flaring orbs of his energy around the falling cruisers, Metic focused firmly on her, and let his powers relax once the cruisers were safe. _Her destructive potential is massive. If she’s obsessed with me, then perhaps I can lead her out of the city-center…_ “This is Commander Metic. Code One alert! Major threat to city population detected. Requesting emergency support, military level response if possible. Attempting to move the target out of civilian area,” he quickly listed off his orders and requests, and then blazed toward the strange woman.

Laughing as he charged for her, the woman’s body burnt on itself with more power, and she started to streak toward him. Metic swerved just around her, a white comet curling around a pink star, and shot off toward the docks. Highly amused by his ‘game’, she twisted, and pursued.

* * *

Such a high level alert as Metic’s warning within the city-limits went straight to the Queen. Sally’s eyes widened at the information, Metic wirelessly broadcasting a visual feed for the strange woman from his own optics. Looking up, she shouted, “Sonic! We have a problem!”

Her husband appeared in front of her, papers flying off her desk. This time, Sally didn’t seem to care, standing to greet him.

“What’s the sitch, Sal?”

“Metic’s calling for a hand. We have a problem in the city.”

Sonic twisted. “I’ll get changed in a flash.”

Sally nodded. “Sir Charles’ new cruiser should be available with them visiting, I’ll see if we can’t borrow it. Sonic!” she called just before he shot off.

“What, what?” just a hint of his old impatience pulled on his voice as he awkwardly pulled himself back.

“Please make sure the girls are safe in their room!”

He winked. “Done!”

Sonic burst off, and Sally ran out of the room, holding a small device to her mouth, “Sir Charles? I need a favor…”

* * *

Police cruisers tried to keep up to back Metic up, but the chase was too fast and chaotic. Even guiding the strange attacker away from the city, Metic was forced to shoot through the air, bounce off buildings and narrowly dodge through traffic, encased in a sphere of his energy as the pink terror ripped after him, flash-melting even reinforced metals with her simple passing. She continually burst with more speed, charging at him, forcing him to dodge to some angle, leaving an exploding crater behind them.

Just as Metic flipped off one of the last buildings near the docks, he twisted around, firming, certain the attacker would seek to ram him again. There she was, shooting after him, twirling around, her right foot swinging around to slam into his head at full power and speed. This time Metic caught the attack, and wrenched her through the air with him, twisting the pair into a white and pink bolo-shot, flipping out over the water.

Releasing her, Metic hoped to see her fly off, but she only arced a few dozen meters before she halted. Her arms and legs were out, then she instantly rocketed backward, looking over her shoulder with a wicked smile in her glowing eyes. Metic’s energy shield brightened as he braced, his blade-fins revving, but just before she hit, his optics widened as the pupils flickered, his energy shield warping and weakening.

She struck like thunder. The tone of the impact was deafening, the water quivering below before the shockwave released blasted a line into the waves like a demi-god’s sword. Metic was a black streak, a comet that struck the beach, emitting a geyser of sand and water at the moment of impact.

Somersaulting with a laugh, the woman landed on the water, and streaked to the beach, looming over the crater in the sand, where Metic was half-buried in deep-sand, his body twitching weakly, his optics barely active, but able to focus on her. In his view, the same warning was pulsating ominously, ‘power drain’.

Pouting down at him, the crystal woman rested her hands on her hips again. “Is that all? I was just getting into it…”

A simple idea struck him. What if this woman, this dangerous creature, had been on the road the same time as Bunnie? She wouldn’t have blinked as the rabbit-woman died horribly in twisting metal.

His optics blazed, and his shaking body lurched upward, folding up at the waist, his arms rising out toward the crystal woman. “Not… finished.”

She rolled her eyes, and then twisted, her body contorting into a full-body heel-drop at his head. Metic snapped back with surprising power, blocking her heel in his crossed wrists. His white energy returned, exploding, sending her flying over the water.

Metic leapt up onto the normal sand outside his crater. “Let’s grind.”

First furious, picking herself up, the woman gained a manic grin. “Ooooh, yes!”

The two burst toward each other, and this time the collision didn’t send them flying apart, but marked the start of a blitzkrieg onslaught in both directions. White and black limbs, wreathed in pink energy and white light flashed, clashed, and smashed in clouds of distorted color and motion. Their faces appeared as scattered doppelgangers in the clouds of their insane speed.

Finally, Metic’s right fist back-handed her across the face, his left fist slammed into the side of her head, and his right foot came around from a violent round-house, ramming down into her already careening body. The woman flew off, skipping across the water. Metic held the end of his kick, one foot pressed to glowing white power just over the water, watching as the woman flipped over herself and skidded along the waves on both feet and one hand. Her energy broke the waves and tore them to steam instantly.

Instead of frustration, that manic glee twisted her otherwise beautiful face again. “Your power! Your speed! I’ll… I’ll tear you apart myself!”

Metic braced, but then his optics flashed with surprise as a blue blur tore across the water and blazed circles around the pink woman.

Now she turned angry. “Agh! You little rodent! Don’t interfere!”

Sonic laughed, leaping off the water just enough to twirl into a buzz-saw, revealing a flash of his segmented, blue and gold armor. The woman was knocked back from his full-force blow. He bounced back, flipping over, and sprinted back to the beach to keep his footing.

“I appreciate the help,” Metic called back to him.

The hero laughed. “Well you never ask for help, so when you actually gave us a holler, we had to do something, right?”

Metic glanced back. “We?”

And a sleek ship shot over their heads. It had a long, sharp, central structure, with smooth foils flowing off the top and bottom on either side, fusing down into wings with numerous weapon systems built along the wings, sides, and nose. Quite large for its speed, the cockpit at the front showed Sally at the controls with Bunnie, Sir Charles, and Rotor around her at specific stations.

Bursting out of a sphere of pink light, the strange woman howled furiously, streaking toward Metic. The ship twisted with Sally’s finessed controls, and Bunnie smirked as she commanded the weapons to open fire. Raking beams of blue light, red-tipped missiles, and pulsating waves of condensed sonic energy flew off the ship, raining down on the alien target.

Blocked from Metic, the woman only became more enraged, and turned her pink energy into a dome-shield, building more power in her hands as she focused up on the ship. Seeing the attacks bounce and detonate against the shield, Metic and Sonic both blitzed across the water to keep her busy.

“The energy is highly destructive! Help the ship!” Metic shouted to Sonic.

“On it!”

Just as the woman snapped her arms up, energy exploding outward, Sonic shot up into the ship, shoving it aside with his rolled-up impact, and Metic tackled the woman down into the water, his body singed by her power.

Inside the ship, the impact and power of the missing beams passing it shook the ship violently. Sally strained to keep control, while Bunnie howled in dismay, and Rotor and Sir Charles groaned in mild illness.

While the ship stabilized, Sonic dropped down, and sped back toward where Metic had tackled the woman into the water. Metic came flying out… backward. Sonic leapt up, caught the robot as the woman rose out of the water, and then twisted with his full speed. He threw Metic higher into the air, drilled down into the water, and shot up underneath the strange woman. She was able to dodge, blasting at him with energy from her hands, but Sonic smoothly rolled out of his twist-drill, smiling at her as he dropped down between the attacks unharmed. Then Metic came crashing back down, locking hands with the woman, landing out to her left.

Standing on their respective energies, the two struggled. Sally brought the ship around to aim at the woman again, and Sonic had to speed around in a circle to avoid sinking, staying ready for his next strike. On the ship, Sally also spoke to her trusty computer assistant, “Nicole, keep a copy of the visual log of this battle. I want to study this … guest.”

“Of course, Sally,” the monotone female computer replied simply.

Sonic’s eyes tightened as he watched Metic’s field supporting him on the water flicker, and his arms buckle under the woman’s strength, where he had been holding his own. She sneered, and shoved him down. Metic gave an electronic groan as he started to sink, but Sonic attacked, ramming her away.

“Get to the beach!” Sonic urged Metic as he pushed the woman back.

Metic nodded, and shot across the water, skidding to a halt on the sand.

“I will have him! I’ll tear him apart with my bare hands!” the woman raved. “You won’t stop it!”

Sonic rushed back, and then revved to charge into her again, but another voice called clearly across the water from the ship, its weapons trained on the woman again.

“Someone oughta teach you ta be a lady, sugar!” and the ship opened fire.

The woman roared outright, energy exploding off her whole body, but this time the onslaught of attacks pummeled her energy, keeping her defensive. Much more intense volleys of firepower simply kept up, unrelenting in their assault. Sonic chuckled, and rushed back to the beach himself, bracing beside Metic to dash back out there. “Looks like Bunnie is giving your new girlfriend a lesson in manners, Metic.”

The robot actually twitched. “…She is skilled with weapons, yes.”

Sonic glanced at him sidelong, a knowing smile hinted in the corners of his lips.

And then something stranger occurred. Bunnie was unleashing salvos at the crystal woman when a dark shape burst down through the attacks, disrupting the woman’s energy and the ship’s firepower in one gesture.

Everything stopped, even Sonic and Metic gawking at a tall creature, covered completely in intricate, layered dark blue armor with a rippling cape down his back of a similar shade, and a long sword sheathed at his hip. He faced the woman first, his back to the others. A deep, powerful voice, yet rasped and filtered rang out clearly, the woman herself seeming alarmed for the first time.

“Enough, Vespa. You’ve made too great a mess of this already. We’re leaving.” He turned, floating off the water, Vespa floating back behind him with quiet anger, her eyes flitting to Metic and back to her, apparent, superior.

When he turned, the armored figure revealed a sharp, but completely covering helmet, with barely a slit for a visor. “It seems we’ve finally been introduced. It was inevitable, but this was a little more chaotic than the Master wanted. Until next time, Mobians.”

Sonic blitzed off to catch them, but the two were absorbed into spheres of red energy, vanishing from sight.

Managing to rush back to land, Sonic was not the only one stunned silent in the wake of the battle. Sally, Bunnie, Uncle Chuck, and Rotor shared lost looks, but on the beach, Sonic finally turned to Metic. “Weird enough for one day… How are you doing?”

Metic focused on him. “Strange, indeed. I’ll try to figure out what she was stealing.” He turned, starting to move away.

Sonic came up, gripping the robot’s shoulder. Metic looked back to him, his optics registering that the ship was flying over as well. “You ignored my question, you know? I saw that little spell you went through back there. Did you take a bad hit?”

Metic’s optics tightened, his emotions betraying his desire to hide the facts. Sonic knew he was lying before he spoke. “Yes, several. She disconnected a few power-converters with one hit…”

Sonic waved back to the ship as it started to land. “Come with us. We need to discuss this little fight.”

The robot hesitated. “I… s-should return to my investigation.”

Sonic firmed. “Don’t even start. Get on the ship. We need to talk, and I’m having Unc take a look at you.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

Exasperated, Sonic flung his hands out. “Are you gonna make me pull rank, Metic?”

The robot twitched one optic, and then stepped forward to start following.

“Better!” Sonic wryly retorted, and led him to the ship.

* * *

Inside of the hold of the ship, which was a long, wide cargo-bay with a plank-ramp access from the rear belly of the craft, Sally and the rest of the bridge-crew ran down, the Queen of Mobius embracing her husband despite his armor. “I’m so glad you’re safe!”

Sonic smiled happily as he hugged her back. “It’ll take more than some crazy, pink psycho to keep us apart, Sal.”

Metic hung back for the moment, but his optics watched the loving pair distantly.

Uncle Chuck laughed warmly as he stood back on the other side of the pair with Rotor and Bunnie. “I see you haven’t lost your touch, Sonny. You were running circles around her. Literally!”

Sonic chuckled as he and Sally separated, keeping one arm around each other. “Well I think Metic had worn her down quite a bit before we got here.” He looked back to the robot, who seemed a bit disturbed by the attention, “Isn’t that right?”

Metic gave a faint shrug, his head tilting with another motorized jerk. “She seemed to remain quite powerful well past your arrival.” He then tipped his head to the group. “And my thanks for the aid.”

Rotor grinned, but he also noticed that Metic’s optics focused anywhere but Bunnie. “Still, great work out there, Metic. Would you like Uncle Chuck and I to take a look at you, though? You took some hard spills in that fight.”

None of them had ever seen the robot shake his head faster. “Thank you, no. I should return to my station, and start the official investigation into whatever the perpetrator, Vespa, was trying to take.”

Sally shook her head in playful exasperation. “Honestly, Metic, I’m really starting to wonder about you.” She actually walked over and tapped him on the head with one knuckle. It had the comical effect of making Metic duck down and blink at her, mildly bewildered. “The investigation is already under way, thanks to your more than capable officers. You’ve been working nonstop for months. I checked your time-records after you left so quickly last time.”

One optic twitched faintly. “I see…” even his computer mind was scrambling for good excuses to offer, but each one failed his own test for their counters.

Bunnie stepped up, setting her hands on her hips. “Sugar-bot, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were tryin’ ta avoid us.” There was a strange mixture of fond humor and very real offense in her tone.

The twitch was worse this time. “N-no… Bunnie. I am simply very…” he stopped himself this time. “My duties are many. I can not shirk them for personal pleasure.” Even in that moment, so awkward and desperate to escape, he was transfixed by her eyes. Despite her wry suspicion, her smirk, the color of her fur, the curves of her cheeks only reminded him of that embrace in Knothole during the war… that gentle kiss on the side of his faceplate when her limbs were restored…

She saw it. That dreamy distance just creeping into his optics around his grave, flat manner. Before, during the war against Robotnik, she’d gotten used to his intent looks, but this one was different. There was something so human in it, and, more disturbing, she could sense the longing, the silent pleading for something as he looked at her. But all of this transpired in less than a heart-beat. She just lightened her smile, her lazy ear dancing to one side as she shifted her weight on her feet, and replied, “Well it’s official business now. Your Queen wants your help figurin’ this attack out, so no excuses this time, sugar.”

Metic focused down on the flooring finally. He had stared at her too long, desired too much. “…Understood.”

The resignation in his tone made the others share a worried look, and Bunnie’s light humor faded to saddened sympathy (and confusion). None of them could figure out what was wrong with the strange robot.

Sally exhaled. “Well! I want to make sure the girls are alright after our quick leave, so I’ll get us back to the palace. Sonic? Join me?”

He winked. “Sure thing.”

While the married couple moved up to the bridge, Sir Charles nodded to Rotor, “Let’s check on the engine, Rotor. That little ram Sonny gave us to save our tails might have jostled something loose.”

“Good point, right behind ya, Uncle Chuck.”

And the two of them moved to the upper level as well.

Metic busied himself with locating a seat, and walked to the left bulkhead, where he could sit on a bench-line there, elbows on his knees, head down, optics inactive. Knowing Bunnie was alone with him in the room as the ship gave a soft thrum for take-off made his hands clench slowly. He instantly and simultaneously saw her smiling in his arms, and also crying out in pain as his hand crushed one of her arms with its uncontrolled strength. What he wanted and what he feared.

“Hey stranger…”

His optics flashed on and up, locking on Bunnie’s sparkling emerald pools. She had leaned over in front of him, a playful, gentle smile on her pale brown lips. “You treatin’ yerself like a piece a cargo now?”

Stuck for a response, his faceplate vented some cool mist, and he managed, “…I am not familiar with the ship, and Queen Acorn and her husband likely prefer some privacy…”

Bunnie smirked, and lightly plopped down beside him, crossing her legs, and cupping both hands around the knee on top, looking at him from her tilted head, her ears lazily hanging away. “Well that sure is thoughtful of ya, Sugar-bot. Pity I can tell yer lyin’…”

His face slackened, plating shifting outward instantly, and he just looked down between his feet.

A bit more serious, Bunnie shook her head, “My stars, darlin’, what has got you so wound up? I haven’t seen you in months, and now yer all antsy and broodin’ all over the place! Did somethin’ happen? Did some a-your people get hurt?”

Metic would have grimaced if he had the capacity. His optics tightened, and his fists clenched. “No… Nothing has happened…”

“Well what is it then--!?” she had just reached out to his shoulder with her hand as she spoke, but the second her fur touched his metal skin, the robot jerked down and away from her touch, and stood away, back-peddling a bit. She froze, staring at him, her hand still out, as Metic looked like a deer in head-lights, frozen himself, looking back at her.

Now seriously concerned, Bunnie stood up. “Metic, something really has you jumpy. Yer not actin’ like yerself…”

Anger surged at his own stupidity, and he glared down to the side. “Forgive me, please… I am disoriented after the battle.” He didn’t have to say _why_ …

It didn’t work, however. Bunnie finally just let her face fall loose, her hands down at her sides. “…Right. Well, if ya can tell me what I did to make you flee the sight a-me, I’d appreciate it, darlin’, but I don’t like to spend my time makin’ my friends uncomfortable.” She turned, walking for the stairs to the upper-level of the ship.

Metic jerked, his optics flaring at her back. Her tone, the signs of her body-language, manner, all tore at him with a level of detail no organic mind could match. He spoke automatically, his emotional capacity overriding his building priority to protect Bunnie from himself. “No, please--!” but he cut himself off.

Still, sincerity had made his tone panicked and guilty, and she stopped, turning to look at him with a mixture of concern and faint hope.

Gawking, his hands open and out awkwardly, he managed, “Y-you… did nothing to me. You have only been kind to me… I… can not… say what is wrong.”

Bunnie pouted, but was deeply relieved to see the truth coming out of him. “But, darlin’, we’re friends! Why can’t you tell me?”

He stared down at the flooring again, his frame relaxing, but his optics contorted with anxiety. “It would do harm…”

She blinked, her head tilting as her shoulders slumped. “…It’d hurt me to find out what’s hurtin’ you?”

His optics shut off. “N-not _you_ , but… Please, let me remain silent…”

Bunnie eased closer. “Metic, darlin’…”

The ship gave a dull rumble as it landed. They had reached the palace.

Before Bunnie could finish, they heard the voices of the others coming down to the cargo-bay again, the ramp opening on the other side. Metic finally looked up into her eyes, looking tired and weak, and she finally just nodded, though a deep sadness had joined her face. The robot tipped his head gratefully, and stepped back from her, putting on his calm face as the others came down into view.

“How’s everything down here?” Sally asked lightly, but her eyes were lingering on Bunnie just enough to make Metic notice it.

Bunnie shrugged, a wan smile on her lips. “Same ole, same ole, Sally-girl.”

Metic looked away, but knew Sally glanced at him sadly after Bunnie’s answer.

Sonic hid the issue easily, “Let’s go grab the girls and have a nice dinner tonight!”

It lightened the mood, and Metic followed them all into the palace proper. As they left the hangar, however, Bunnie gave him one, final sad glance before moving along with everyone. In the midst of his all his conflicting imaginings, he wondered idly if she would ever know how deeply those looks tortured him…

* * *

The throne-room of the palace had been both restored and altered since King Acorn’s time. Instead of a throne on a dais, the chamber had been enlarged around a large desk at the back, with a high, beautifully sloping ceiling, sharp and smooth with white, clean walls, bright lights, and pale blue and gray patterned carpeting around the floor. Sally sat in the ‘throne’ at the desk, her daughters dozing a bit in her lap as she typed at a computer built into the desk. Her husband, Bunnie, Antoine, Uncle Chuck, Rotor, and Metic stood out in front of the desk in a random pattern, Metic noticeably the farthest from the table, standing in a military at-ease posture, his hands clasped behind his back as he listened.

It was late that night, after dinner. The young princesses had simply not wanted to be away from their parents, and neither Sally nor Sonic were eager to disappoint them after such a tiring day. “With a bit of help from Sir Charles and Metic,” Sally explained, “we’ve calculated that this ‘Vespa’ woman has close to Sonic’s speed, Metic’s strength, and, obviously, a large supply of volatile energy in her super-structure.”

Antoine cringed. “She is sounding most dangerous, nes pa? Perhaps we can… how you say it, duck and cover?”

He got a dry stare from the whole group save Metic and Sally. Looking up from the screen to the others, Sally concluded, “And the facility she broke out of to start that chase is a generator-factory. They specialized in high-tech, high-efficiency power-generation devices. A lot of their work was based on Sir Charles’ own designs he privatized to help fund the reconstruction, actually.”

The older hedgehog rustled his own quills with one hand, “Helped pay the bills, certainly, but Vespa can’t have wanted any of those resources for a good reason.”

Metic spoke as he tilted his own head, remembering one of her harder hits, “By her methods, and that other creature that arrived, it would seem she’s little more than a thug, however. Hired muscle, or constructed.”

Sir Charles silently nodded his agreement as Rotor commented, “But why so suddenly? Obviously Vespa and her partner had a lot of resources behind them to pull this kind of thing off.”

Sally shrugged. “It seems it might just be a coincidence we found out this early, Rotor. That other creature mentioned we’d be introduced at some point. They’ve probably been laying low.”

Sonic smacked a fist into the other hand, “Which means we’re actually lucky that psycho lady did her thing today. It was getting a little boring around here.”

His wife gave him a fretful look, “Sonic…”

His shoulders slumped. “Right, right… Just a little excited, Sal, I won’t go charging off, or something…” With his little smile, they both glanced at their daughters.

Bunnie grinned. “Well, I think ole Sugar-hog’s got a bit of a point, there, Sally-girl. It’s been a little too quiet these days. I might be goin’ too soft!”

The Queen gave her old friend an exasperated but amused look.

That moment, however, Sally glanced down to her screen as it flickered, along with the lights in the room, and Metic gave a faint grunt, touching his chest.

Sir Charles immediately moved around to check something with the computer beside Sally, but Metic looked up. “Evacuate the upper floors!”

Everyone stared at him instantly, realizing he’d sensed something. Sonic blurred to Sally, helping her out of the chair, the girls snapping awake, and realizing something was wrong, clinging closely to their mother. Metic was abruptly just behind Antoine and Bunnie, pushing them toward a side-exit as Rotor hurried after Sally, Sonic, and Sir Charles.

But it was too late.

The ceiling at the front of the throne-room exploded around some giant mass, the entire palace shaking as alarms filled the air. Security forces were scrambling immediately, but they would take several minutes to reach the throne-room with a major hall-junction at the front obliterated.

Metic twisted, facing the falling debris. “Get out of here!” his head-blades revved, and he shot toward the cloud of dust. Bunnie looked over her shoulder anxiously, but knew she could do little to help him with no gear or weapons, whatever had just blown up the front of the room. Sir Charles started to open the door for all of them, Sally just looking to him from the shattered ceiling herself, Sonic pulling Bunnie and Rotor past himself, reaching for Antoine, when a large mass burst out of the cloud of dust. A blue and gray armor ball on the end of a thick, metal chord shot out like a bolt, and blew apart the doorway Uncle Chuck was just opening. The frame and wall exploded, sending Sir Charles flying back into Sonic, the others just falling flat, Sally protectively holding her girls in her arms as they cried out in fright.

“Great Shades of Mobius!” Sir Charles finally managed, rolling off his nephew, who joined him and the others in looking over at the parting dust-cloud.

The metal ball rushed back, locking onto the end of a large, mechanical arm in the same style, opening and revealing itself as a hand more clearly. Metic came flying out of the last bit of dust, plowing straight into the back wall, behind the desk, and giving a dull moan from the trauma to his systems.

With a quake through the room, the robot fully revealed itself, stomping to the fore on towering legs. All gray and blue, it was tremendous for a single creature, easily three times Sonic’s height, with big, round shoulders, a humped back, a low-set, bulbous head with big, yellow optics, and a large jaw and face-plate. The lower arms and legs were curvilinear and thick, but the hips, thighs, and upper-arms were quite slim. Striking a fighting posture, the robot clenched its four-digit hands into fists, and growled ominously. “You made a mistake pushing Vespa so far this morning,” he informed them in a perfectly adult, deep voice, sounding quite emotional, and not like a computer. “I’m going to put you out of our misery, Mobians.”

Metic pried himself out of the wall, and dropped heavily to a crouch.

“Sugar-bot, you gonna be okay?” Bunnie asked as she and the others picked themselves up.

The robotic hedgehog simply nodded, rising into a fighting stance himself. “I wasn’t expecting such raw force.”

Sonic remained tensed, standing in front of his family, friends, and that giant. “Sal, Unc, work on gettin’ you guys out of here. We can’t have a fight with Cathy and Lita right there.”

Antoine moaned. “Ze terreeble monster ‘as smashed the exit to bits! How are you expecting us to be leaving, Soneek!?”

“That’s why I asked the SMART ONES, Ant!” Sonic shouted over his shoulder, his patience for Antoine’s cowardice burnt up instantly with his girls in immediate danger. “So help get my daughters OUT OF HERE!”

The quick prioritization made Antoine clamp his mouth shut and rush to Sally’s side, despite the woman giving her husband a bit of a look for being so harsh to their friend.

“Will Daddy stop that thing, Mama?” Cathy asked anxiously.

Sally smiled at her girls. “That’s the plan, sweetie.”

Sir Charles looked to the far side of the room. “…Behind it! We can climb over the rubble!”

Sonic looked to Metic. “Chrome-dome, you ready to play tag?”

Metic’s optics flashed and his blade-fins revved. “Let’s grind!”

“Gotta juice!”

A black and blue blur rushed into the giant, slamming into his chest, and them flickering all over his large frame. The giant cursed, aggravated, and swung around, trying to swat them off himself.

Uncle Chuck waved rapidly to the others, and they started to rush around with him, along the right side of the room as the looked at the destroyed entrance, to try and get around the fight. Bunnie pulled Rotor and Antoine past her quickly when the robot made a dangerously close sweep near their side of the room at one point, but they were able to make swift progress toward the exit.

Sonic flipped off the giant’s back, skidding toward the rubble his family was aiming for at the former entrance to the room, and watched the black blur of Metic continue to force the robot goliath to scramble and twitch, unable to focus on a clear target.

“Stay still! Bloody trash-can!” the giant bellowed, and suddenly lurched down, slamming one foot into the ground.

The entire palace trembled again, the ground segmenting in a dangerous wave out to the walls. Metic was thrown off, slamming down into the desk, cutting it in half with his weight, and a giant crack through the right wall split the flooring up, and tossed Bunnie back toward the desk-end of the room, away from the others with a shout of dismay.

“Bunnie!” Sally cried out in horror, looking back.

“Aunt Bunnie!” Lita shouted, tears in her eyes, Cathy too startled to make a sound.

Bunnie groaned, and looked over to see the giant focus on her. Her eyes flared, and she started to scramble backwards on all-fours. Rotor was already starting to dash for her, but Sonic saw the giant’s left foot swinging out to the same point Rotor was just reaching, and the walrus didn’t see the crushing weight falling.

“Rotor, watch it!” Sonic shouted, blurring up, yanking the walrus back.

“No, she’ll be crushed, Sonic!” Rotor shouted in horror.

The wall exploding in front of them from the giant’s leg silenced the poor mechanic, and left Bunnie to stare up at the looming robot’s glowing eyes. “Too bad for you,” he said harshly, and raised his right fist.

Bunnie firmed, narrowing her eyes, and quickly rolled backward as the giant swung down. She blinked as something black shot between the giant’s fist and where she’d been lying on the ground. Metic was there, taking the blow into his hands, the ground shattering under his own feet as his entire body moaned and quaked from the force it needed just to keep the brute’s limb off the ground.

As the others saw Bunnie at least had help, running for the edge of the room, Metic raised his head, and let his optics blaze bright red at his blade-fins revved. “Stay away from her…”

The giant chuckled, leaning down into Metic’s face, his arm firming and starting to press down with the fist. “And how are you going to stop me? You couldn’t even handle Vespa alone, robot.”

Metic started to sink into the ground, Bunnie caught, unsure how to help, and without a path to flee. Her robotic friend, however, growled deeply, and replied, “Your comrade… did not try to _crush Bunnie with her fist_!” he roared the finish, and his body erupted with white energy, lifting the giant’s fist up, startling the larger machine just before Metic snap-curled into a ball, and shot into his chest like a blaster-bolt.

It was like a gut-punch to the giant, and he stumbled back, groaning thickly as he grasped at his dented stomach. Metic flipped down, landing normally, his body flexing with more intense respiration cycling.

Sonic just blurred up to the top of the mound of rubble when another voice made everyone freeze and focus at the rubble with him.

“Garas, you’ve been spending too much time with Vespa. You were taught far superior methods of attack than a blind charge.”

The blue-armored creature who had cut off the fight over the water was standing there. A sword at his hip, cape lashing in the open air of the ruined ceiling, helmet aimed down at Sonic. “We wasted a teleportation field for this foolishness? Master will not be pleased.”

Sonic wasted no time. He flickered, and Sally, her daughters, and the others barely realized in time that it was Sonic who was yanking them back from the exit, to get them away from the blue-armored warrior. Sonic stopped back near the throne and ruined desk, keeping himself between the others and the invaders.

Garas, as the giant seemed to be called, eased away from Metic and Bunnie, looking up at the other one gravely. “You didn’t give me much time…”

“You took too long.” Then the armored one focused over on Sonic and his group. “Are you prepared to defend yourselves, Mobians?”

Bunnie came up behind Metic as Sonic firmed, narrowing his eyes. “You better believe it, you overgrown can-opener. Why don’t you take trash-compactor there, and head on home?”

The armored, Mobian-sized creature drew his sword, revealing a blue-glowing blade. He pointed it at Sonic. “That is a command you will have to enforce, I’m afraid.”

“Mind if I do it for him!?”

Everyone looked up in shock as blue blaster-bolts shot down, peppering the armored swordsman and Garas, forcing them into defense. Garas just ducked his head down, letting the blasts burst against his formidable armor, but the smaller of the two seemed to flicker in place, the shots hitting the ground at his feet.

Tails came rushing down, flipping over himself, and landing down near Sonic and the others. He had guns tucked into his belt, including two in his hands, the barrels smoking. “Thought you guys might need a hand!” He twisted to them, winked, and tossed pistols to Sally, Sir Charles, Rotor, and Antoine. Sally was able to do so thanks to crouching down, keeping her daughters close, but not in her arms that second. “Bunnie!” Tails shouted, tossing one over to her.

Bunnie caught it, winking at him. “Nice one, little darlin’!” She cocked the weapon and aimed it up at Garas. Metic slowly stood up beside her, but was still breathing thickly.

“Aim for the joints!” Sir Charles shouted, and ran behind the desk for cover. Rotor and Antoine joined him, Bunnie diving back to do the same, the four of them opening fire.

Garas growled as he had to block more shots with his arms, unable to see for a clear attack. Sonic shot forward, blurring toward the smaller attacker. “You ready for this!?”

The sword blurred and warped into a cloud of attacks, Sonic one of the only creature’s alive able to see the individual sweeps and strikes, dodging rapidly before back-peddling out of their range. The swordsman shook his head. “You understand nothing, _hero_.” He abruptly ducked down, his cape billowing out, and then shot off the ground.

Sonic gaped, watching the swordsman fly over him, flip down, and slam to a crouch just in front of Sally. Sonic’s body emptied, his face going near-white. “SAL! Get away from him!” he all but screamed in desperation, seeing Cathy and Lita so close to that glowing weapon…

Everyone aimed at the dark knight, but couldn’t risk hitting Sally. The Queen of Mobius, however, turned sharp and firm, and her arm confidently snapped the pistol up, aiming right into the visor of the knight. Without hesitation, she opened fire, her eyes blazing with focus. As the knight moved back, his upper-body warping and bending out of the shots’ paths, she remained vigilant, firing constantly, not letting him relax any defense for risk of taking a bolt right to the head. Her daughters watched in terrified awe as their mother transformed into a stoic sentinel, a guardian like those in the ancient stories. Unstoppable in defense of its charge.

And then the knight brought his sword up, the weapon snapping, twisting, and flashing arcs through the air, deflecting several shots before Sally stopped supplying him with possible ammunition.

For fear of hurting the girls, everything had suddenly frozen. Garas didn’t move for fear of his superior, Tails held his pistols toward the knight with the others, Metic remained focused on the giant, though mindful of Sally’s situation, and Sonic was frozen near the rubble, unable to move for fear of endangering his family.

The knight lowered his sword slowly, his helmet tilting to one side as he looked at Sally. Slowly, he spoke, “The Master won’t underestimate you again, Queen Acorn. Heed these warnings well, if you intend to see your daughters carry their own children…” He looked over his shoulder before anyone could figure out why he’d made such strange remarks. “Garas! We’re leaving.”

The giant ducked down, and sprang up into the air. The knight shot up after him, and then, frighteningly, caught the giant with one hand, and flew off with him.

Sally dropped her gun, and squeezed her daughters close, kissing and petting them as they clung to her, frightened but relieved. Sonic blurred over, falling to his knees and wrapping his arms around them all.

The others eased finally, standing and putting their weapons away. Tails put his weapons down on the desk, exhaling to let his adrenaline ease off. Bunnie stuck her gun into her belt, and touched Metic’s shoulder. “Sugar-bot…”

He looked to her instantly, his view lost to her eyes, despite the warning blinking at the bottom of his sight.

“Thank you. I saw you try an’ keep that thing off me.”

Metic slowly shook his head, looking down and away.

Calm understanding was in Bunnie’s eyes, but she just patted his shoulder, and let her hand away, looking to the others. “Y’all alright? No one bleedin’?”

Everyone sounded off soon enough. Sonic and Sally stood up, each holding a daughter, nodding to any concerned looks. Away, on the side, Metic ducked his head as his optics flickered weakly again, but he let it stabilize, and then moved to the group calmly. “Security and emergency units are en-route already. I will look into the matter more directly, perhaps identify exactly what Vespa and her comrades were looking for. If they’ve been gathering strength, then there is a larger trail to follow.”

Sally nodded to him quietly. “Thank you, Metic… For helping protect my family tonight.”

Everyone watched him hesitate softly, and then simply shake his head. “You need not thank me… I will go tend to this matter.” He bowed, and quickly strode off, the sounds of hover-units closing on the throne-room already clear on the air.

Sonic reached out, and pulled Tails into a playful side-hug. “Where’d you learn to shoot like that, huh, kiddo?”

Tails laughed a bit. “You guys aren’t the only ones keeping busy, ya know?”

His old mentor grinned, and tussled his ears. “You’ve grown up on me, kid. Great work today. You seriously helped out.”

Rotor nodded. “Definitely. How’d you even know how to get these guns to us, Tails?”

The twin-tailed boy gave a nervous laugh. “…Borrowed them from the armory?”

Everyone blinked at him. Sally finally managed, “…You broke into the palace barracks?”

Tails ducked his head down meekly, his ears folding down. “…I’ve been hanging around the palace with Nicole a little too long…”

Sally raised an eyebrow, and pulled her computer up in her hand. “Nicole, have you been teaching Tails how to hack our locks?”

The computer was conspicuously quiet for a few seconds. “Not exactly, Sally…”

Sonic smirked, “You just gave him a few hints here and there, huh?”

“Something like that, my main hedgehog.”

They both rolled their eyes, but Bunnie finally pulled Tails into a big, grappling hug. “Either way, ya used it for the right thing, darlin’! You’re the hero of the day!”

He grinned, laughing out of the hug. “Aw, no. Just finally able to help a bit, right?”

Antoine chuckled. “Oh ho ho! He is becoming quite ze soldier, I am thinking!”

Sir Charles laughed with the others. “Quite the soldier, indeed. I’ll run these weapons back to the armory. You lot get settled and try to relax a bit after this insanity tonight.”

It was a welcome idea, and Sally recruited Bunnie to help calm the security and emergency personnel down for them while the royal family retired for the night. Rotor and Antoine helped Bunnie do so, and soon enough, the rabbit woman was able to flop down onto her bed in the palace. Rubbing her nose with one hand, she recalled what Metic had said to Garas just before ramming him away from her. She wiped the hand down her face, and then put her arms above her head, laying on her ears, in fact.

“Just been hiding from it for all these years, haven’t ya, Sugar-bot? If ya’d been anyone else, I’dda seen it right off… that look in your eyes.” She sighed, closing her eyes. “That’s why ya never came to check on me… You poor thing. I’m not gonna turn on ya that fast.” She raised her arm out, her left arm, looking at it. “Not after what ya did for me, darlin’.” She closed her hand, and relaxed on the bed. _I just wish I knew you weren’t tearing yourself up over this silly stuff. You’ll do that sooner than talk to me, silly rust-bucket._

She drifted off to sleep, where her dreams finished their partial conversation, and let Metic smile for a change.


	3. Spire Zone

Hydraulics hissed and locks gave loud bangs from the guts of the surprisingly intricate door opening to either side around interlocking fangs of metal. Sally and Bunnie stepped through the opening into Rotor’s lab, the walrus turning in one of the chairs at the far side to grin back at them. “Ladies! Thanks for coming!”

Sally smiled back, Bunnie playfully replying, “Now, sugar, I know you called us down here for more ‘an jus’ flirtin’!”

Rotor blushed with another laugh of his own, but nodded. “Of course, not that a guy looking for any excuse to see you two would be hard to understand,” he finished with a wink.

Both women laughed happily, coming up to him. The lab was roughly square in design, with large screens and windows making up the three walls beyond the entrance, with consoles arrayed around most of the sides at the bottoms. The windows showed workshops with large devices for working with heavier inventions. Rotor let several hydraulic arms go still in the workshop in the center as he hopped out of his chair to greet the women with hugs.

“So what’s going on, Rotor?” Sally asked, still very happy in manner.

The walrus grinned. “You two heard about that prototype robo-armor project, right?”

Both women smirked. Bunnie replied, “I only helped ship most of the parts to you and Uncle Chuck, darlin’.”

“And I approved the funding,” Sally finished.

Rotor winked. “Exactly. Unfortunately, it got stalled because of problems in the interface.”

Now serious, Sally nodded, “Yes, something in the report about too much delay between the user’s natural neural pathways and the suit.”

Rotor gave a big nod in confirmation. “Again, right on the money, your majesty.”

She gave him a look for the title, but said nothing.

Bunnie shrugged, “So why ya bringin’ all this up, sugar?”

“I have a theory,” he answered, instantly focused, and while still smiling, very serious about the topic. He got back in his chair, spun it to the console. “Look at this.”

Both women stepped up, Bunnie on his right, Sally his left, and watched as the large window filled with glowing lights that clarified into data-screens. One at the right side showed a three-dimensional model of a humanoid suit of armor with various read-outs on the side, while others showed graphs reaching minimal levels of improvement before plateauing below bright blue lines, which were apparently the goals.

“This is all the collected data for the project. As you can see, no one could use it effectively. The starting theory was that since the roboticizer could turn a Mobian into a functional robot with high-end processing power, that integrating Mobians into a far less harmful suit would be rather straight-forward. What we learned, however, is that controlling a machine, and being a machine, are completely unrelated. No one could properly synch with the suit’s systems.”

Sally frowned thoughtfully. “So what’s changed?”

Rotor grinned. “Nothing, I just think we forgot to try one more test-subject.”

They both blinked at him. “Who, sugar? Sonic… Metic…?”

Rotor just looked lightly up at Bunnie, as if to respond, but instead he remained silent, smiling at her. Bunnie blinked at him, but Sally realized it first. “Bunnie!? Why?”

The floppy-eared woman herself was startled, but Rotor’s expression clearly confirmed it. “Why would I be any different, darlin’?”

Rotor turned his chair again, and hopped out to stand with them. “Because, Bunnie, you were never _fully_ roboticized. You, of all the victims of Robotnik, were the only person to extensively use cybernetic body-parts with an _organic_ brain.”

Bunnie seemed softly startled still, and Sally managed, “But why would that make a difference, Rotor? The roboticizer effect and this suit aren’t really comparable. Isn’t that what you just said?”

The walrus nodded. “Yes, I did, Sal, but I haven’t actually gotten to my theory yet. I _think_ Bunnie’s brain subconsciously adapted to the new limbs in ways we can’t even measure properly. I think she might be the only person who can use the battle-suit.”

Bunnie giggled. “You sayin’ my noggin did the best with a bunch of lemons to make some lemonade, Rotor?”

“Precisely. So! I asked you down here to, with your permission, test the suit on you, Bunnie. There shouldn’t be any risks at all! No one was ever hurt by the suit, but, well… I couldn’t just toss it on you!”

They all shared a laugh at that, and Bunnie finally nodded. “Well sure!” She tossed her hands up. “I mean, no point not tryin’, right?”

“Yes!” Rotor seized her hand, making Bunnie pout adoringly, and Sally giggle. “Thank you so much! Can we try right away?”

Bunnie giggled at his excitement. “Sure! Where is this little contraption?”

Both women shared a fond look as Rotor practically shot for the right side of the lab, opening a door to the workshop there. “Right in here!”

The workshop was vaguely like a large mechanics shop, except clean blue and black, with white and gray panels on the ceiling , floor, and operation consoles. A large chamber was nestled into the back, right corner as they entered, and Rotor moved over to it, opening its specific door. “A private changing room, with the suit right there. I’ll just show you how it goes on, and then let you do your thing, Bunnie!”

With nothing more than a happy nod, Bunnie stepped into the room with him for a few moments, and then Rotor left, grinning at Sally as the door shut for Bunnie’s privacy. “I really think this will work!”

Sally smiled warmly at him. “Rotor, you’re such a good friend. What on earth made you dig this old project up? It was one of the first things the reestablished government worked on.”

Rotor scratched the back of his head with a nervous smile. “With all this craziness going on with that creepy knight and his gang, I knew Bunnie would want to be right in the thick of it, helping us… I was… kinda worried about that.”

The Queen pouted at him, and patted his shoulder. “You were going to build her a suit, and just remembered this one?”

Blushing brightly, he nodded a little.

Sally winked. “If it works out right, I’m sure she’ll love it, Rotor.”

“I am lovin’ it already!” Bunnie’s filtered voice came through the hissing door to the little chamber, drawing both their eyes to it. Standing in the opening was a humanoid creature with silver and black armor layered almost elegantly across sharp shoulder-guards, down slim, flexible arms, a heavily armored upper-torso, slimming down to wrinkled material between ridges and pipes toward the lower-body, where thicker armor returned. The helmet was fully enclosing, with a faceted face-plate under a broad, computerized, green visor, where Bunnie’s smiling eyes were clearly visible. One gauntlet pressed to her hip, and she struck a playful pose. “I do believe I look fine enough to take on old Rust-bucket himself one more time, ya’ll!”

Sally laughed, and Rotor, grinning, was controlling a blush.

“I think you’re right, Bunnie,” Queen Acorn agreed lightly.

Rotor chuckled out of his embarrassment as Bunnie trotted up to them, her boots thumping off the ground. “It looks good, and it isn’t even active yet,” the walrus said playfully.

Bunnie winked at him. “Well turn me on, sugar!”

Sally smirked as Rotor coughed sharply, and quickly made his way to a console near the little chamber. Bunnie giggled, and gave Sally a playful shove for her dry look. Clearing his head with a little shake, Rotor activated the console, and shifted through some data-screens before nodding to himself. “Alright, ready. Bunnie?”

She stepped out a little from her friend, and nodded. “Ready and waitin’, sugar.”

Rotor hit some keys. “Starting up suit drives, host adaptation protocol, and basic functionality.”

Bunnie watched her view flicker and blink with various little screens scrolling rapidly past her vision, and felt a faint tightness in her limbs as the armor plating closed subtly around her, tightening closer to her frame. Sally watched with interest as this happened, seeing some of the plates close seamlessly together along the forearms and calves. Bunnie gave a light start as the middle and lower parts of the torso-armor suddenly sucked close to her frame. “My stars!”

Rotor jerked at his console, twisting to her. “What’s wrong?”

Sally was controlling a laugh into her right fist, looking off politely as Bunnie lightly patted down her stomach, the armor flexing with slightly agitated breathing. “Just… a little snug around the chest, darlin’…” she was controlling laughter herself.

Rotor turned beat-red, and jerked back to the console, his hands scrambling over buttons. “S-sorry! I’ll shut that down right away! I can adjust that, I’m really sorry!”

Both women finally laughed, Bunnie shaking her head. “Easy now, darlin’! Just a little tight, just gave me a start. Let’s see if she works, then we can trim her to fit, right?”

Rotor did ease, but his cheeks were still so hot he kept facing the console. “Got it, okay. Sorry, though.”

Sally calmed to a wry smirk at her friend, who gave her a playful glare back.

“No worries, sugar.”

Adjusting a few more controls, Rotor finally nodded, and stepped back. “Okay, it’s fully active at basic level. Move around a bit, and tell me how it feels.”

Bunnie nodded, and then lightly waved her arms around, gave a few hops on her legs, and then did a quick back-flip. Rising out of that, she shrugged. “Feels fine, darlin’. I gotta say, though, this thing sure is light… what’s it made of?”

Rotor’s grin was so big, both women blinked over at him, and then realized something had gone very right.

“The most durable metals we have.”

Bunnie blinked. “…But aren’t those heavier ‘an all get out, sugar?”

“Yep.”

This time Bunnie was shocked, and she looked down at herself. Sally raised her eyebrows, and smiled over at Rotor. “So it works?”

“Perfectly! Quick, Bunnie! Try to lift something heavy! Just a little over what you could do yourself!”

Bunnie shrugged, looking around, and then giggled as she saw a work-table. Trotting over to it, she gripped it by one side and the base, and gave a firm lift, only to playfully yelp as it rose up with her arms like a rocket.

Sally gaped, Rotor pumping his fists with a mouthed ‘yes!’.

“My stars, darlin’!” Bunnie exclaimed, gently putting the table back down. “I think this thing makes me stronger than I _was_ with my robotic limbs!”

“And that’s just test-level! Full-level functionality should nearly double that effect! It also has special sockets for holding high-end weaponry that no normal soldier could carry alone!” Rotor listed off excitedly.

Bunnie had an intrigued expression on, and struck another pose. “ _Now_ yer talkin’ my language, darlin’. Show me what this puppy can do!”

“Love to!”

Sally grinned. “I’m very glad, thanks, you two. I think I’ll let you figure out the details together, and get back to all that paperwork piling up on my desk.”

The pair lightly waved her off, thanking her for coming, and Sally stepped out giggling. “Good job, Rotor.”

* * *

With hands stuffed grumpily into the pockets of an open lab-coat, a familiar hook-nosed, nearly-bald man marched down a sidewalk in Mobotropolis, frowning. “I swear, if those buffoons don’t have it right this time, I’ll fire the lot of them!” He glanced up, saw a sign for the commercial fabrication company he was looking for, and then looked to his left, at his reflection in the front of a store window. Seeing the few strands of hair he had left blowing backward, he growled, and quickly wiped them over the top of his head. “I should invest in a toupee…”

He abruptly plowed into the shoulder of a tall, wolf woman on the street, making them both twist toward each other sharply.

“Watch it!” the woman growled in startled aggravation.

Snively frowned, but answered, “Pardon me…”

“Wait a second,” the woman began suspiciously, pointing at him. “Aren’t you Snively?”

He blinked, a bit of fear creeping into his eyes. “What do you mean by that?”

Suddenly the woman shoved him firmly with her hand. “Don’t give me that. I know who you are. I watched you activate the roboticizer on me. Funny how Robotnik gets blown to bits, but you make off like a prince after everything you did to us!”

Snively backpedaled against the store-front he’d just seen his reflection in, sputtering, “I-I’ve done my part to clean up the place! I-I d-don’t see why you’re so stuck on it!”

Several people around them were glancing over, wondering about the trouble, but some recognized Snively as well, and seemed to have a similar beef with him as the wolf. A large badger-man stomped up on Snively’s right. “Hey! That’s right! You roboticized my whole family, you monster! Are you giving this lady a hard time?”

Pulling his collar to help his tightening throat, Snively shifted to his left. “Don’t be absurd! We bumped into each other! Harmless mistake! I’ll be going then!” and he turned, starting to move along briskly.

A fox-man turned to follow him. “You know, I have a pretty big problem with how easy you got off, _Snively_.”

Breaking into a sudden run was understandable on Snively’s part, but proved a mistake. The moment he accelerated, half the sidewalk took off after him, shouting angrily about loved ones he’d help Robotnik turn into mechanical slaves. Sprinting, sweating like an animal, and running shot of breath, Snively spotted a pair of police officers relaxing near their cruiser at the side of the street, and shrieked, “Help me! They’re after me!”

Startled, both officers looked up, a shrew and mouse. Snively plowed into the mouse, making her grunt and hold him off her as the shrew quickly stepped ahead, raising his hand to the charging mob. “Hold it! What’s going on here!”

The mouse held the gasping Snively upright enough to ask him, “What’s going on, sir?”

The crowd shouted angrily for him to be arrested, but Snively just waved at them, still gasping, managing, “Trying to… lynch me… help… get me… _out of here_!”

The shrew scoffed. “Lynch? Please. Calm down people!” he shouted to the crowd. “What’s going on, all I hear is a lot of shouting.”

The wolf woman pointed, shouting back, “That’s Snively! Arrest him! He never got what he deserved for everything he did!”

The officers both looked at Snively, realizing who he was, and losing most of their sympathy for him, but mindful of their duty. The shrew turned back to the crowd, waving his hands down. “Hold it, hold it. You know full well he was pardoned of his crimes for all the help he gave in the reconstruction, people. We’ve been through this whole mess, let’s just move on.”

To the officers’ alarm, the crowd turned furious, shouting more loudly and angrily than before. The mouse pulled Snively behind her, anxiously fingering her tazer. The shrew eased back as well, but gripped his communicator. “This is unit four-zero-five, we have a public disturbance here, possibly a riot.”

“Copy that, four-zero-five,” a female voice filtered back. “Situation?”

“We have Dr. Snively with us, but there’s a crowd…” he eyed the group as a few more Mobians joined it, shaking their fists and shouting as they heard who was being blamed, “getting bigger, demanding we arrest him. We might have a problem here.”

“Unit four-zero-five,” Metic’s voice replied this time, “This is Commander Metic. I’ll tend to this personally. Secure Dr. Snively in your cruiser and try to keep the crowd calm.”

“Sir!”

It was only about three minutes really, but neither the mouse nor the shrew had ever felt such a short time last longer. With Snively hiding in the back of their cruiser, the crowd still furious, both officers tried to calm everyone down, but really only succeeded it preventing them from turning violent. It was something, but not exactly progress.

A blast of wind and flashing white light silenced everyone suddenly, and Metic flipped down between the officers and the crowd, rising up and raising his hands. “Calm down, everyone,” his voice was simply loud, not angry. “Being an angry mob won’t get you anything you want. We’re here to serve you, so let’s keep this civil and we’ll figure out what we can do.”

More out of fear of the robot than sincerity, the crowd did quiet itself. The wolf woman stepped forward, pointing sharply at Snively through the window of the cruiser. “He has to pay for what he did! Sure, he did some things to help us, but that doesn’t make up for what he did under Robotnik!”

Metic’s optics tightened. “No one claims his crimes were not grievous, but we maintain order and the law. Queen Acorn held Dr. Snively’s efforts on behalf of Mobius as repayment for his crimes.”

“You’re just watching out for your old boss’ right hand man!” someone shouted from the back.

The robotic hedgehog blinked, confused for a moment, and then tensed as the crowd surged with anger, shouting again.

“He’s right! That robot’s still taking Robotnik’s orders!”

Snively twitched as he listened. Metic, however, turned his head to the shrew, and quickly ordered, “Get Dr. Snively to safety. Immediately.”

The officer didn’t delay. He got in with his partner, and they took off, flying high and far. Enraged, the crowd shouted and raved, but kept themselves from turning violent for the moment.

“See! See! He’s just covering for Snively! How on Mobius did a robot-weapon get to be a police-chief, anyway!?”

As others agreed with the sentiment, Metic quickly got out of their way, flickering out of sight himself. The wolf-woman who had first bumped into Snively growled. “This isn’t over…”

Metic returned to the central police headquarters, and moved right up to his secretary’s desk. She blinked, a bit surprised to see him. “What can I do for you, Commander?”

“Please contact the palace. I need to speak with Queen Acorn about a possibly serious problem.”

“Y-yes, sir. Right away.”

He nodded. “Thank you. I’ll be in my office.”

* * *

The throne-room of the palace, though really more of an office, had been reconstructed quite swiftly after the aborted attack by Garas and his partner. Sally sat behind the broad desk tending to some paperwork, and glanced down to a console at her left when it chimed. “Yes?”

“…It is Commander Metic, Queen Acorn.”

She gave the speaker a dry look for the formal title, but smiled soon after, saying, “Perfect, I was just wrapping this up anyway. Come on in.”

The door at the other end opened for the robotic hedgehog, and he walked across the span between them as she shut down the holographic field above Nicole and focused on her guest. “It’s good to see you, though it’s bad business,” she finished sympathetically.

Metic tipped his head, stopping at the front of the desk. “Yes, I apologize for interrupting your affairs, your majesty--?”

“Metic, honestly, would you stop being so formal with me?” she interrupted him with playful exasperation, tipping her head down. “Just call me Sally.”

His optics shifted awkwardly for a heart-beat, and then he quietly amended, “Sally,” to his statement. “Did you have time to read the report my secretary sent?”

Sally gave a little sigh at his distance, but nodded and focused on the business at hand. “Yes, I did. I’m a little surprised this hasn’t come up sooner, but now that things have really settled down after Robotnik, people have time to actually think about what happened. I’m very grateful you calmed that down before it became a real riot, Metic,” the squirrel woman finished quite sincerely.

Metic simply tipped his head. “It did, however, raise a troubling issue beyond Snively himself…”

The Queen of Mobius blinked at the almost guilty glance downward in Metic’s optics. “…What else?”

Looking her in the eye, he answered, his faceplate venting fresh mist, “When I tried to calm the crowd, they quickly assumed I was protecting Snively because of programming from Robotnik. That I was effectively operating to protect Robotnik’s right-hand man. They seriously questioned my position, and I may need to step down as acting Commander of the city police…”

Though serious, Sally gave Metic a firm look, like a mother to a stubborn son. Before she could speak, however, the side door, near her desk, popped open, and a pair of colored blurs shot in, talking as fast as their feet carried them right up to her legs. Sally gave a pleased yelp of surprise, though blushing due to Metic’s presence, and leaned down to hug her daughters. “Lita! Catherine! My little loves, I’ve told you to be more careful about barging in here. Mommy has very important business!”

Lita stuck her tongue out. “Important business is boring! We want you to play with Papa and us!”

“Yeah! You had to skip story-time last night, too!” Catherine chimed in plaintively.

Sally melted, pouting at her children. “Aw… girls, I know its tough sometimes, but I really have to do this stuff, or we can’t spend the time together we _do_ get.”

Metic, meanwhile, busied himself by looking anywhere but at the family clustered in front of him, his optics scanning surface details on the walls and ceiling very slowly.

“But you’re just talking with Mr. Metic!” Lita proclaimed forcefully, swinging her hands up and down on Sally’s right knee.

Sally had to giggle, “But Lita, he’s the chief of police! We’re talking about really serious problems out in the city, and you’re interrupting! The more you interrupt me now, the later I have to work to fix it, and then I might not be able to read you a story tonight either, love. I don’t want to skip it _twice_ in a row!” she--quite sincerely, but with a bit of loving exaggeration--declared to her daughters, caressing their spines and hair, smiling, and kissing them on the heads gently.

Cathy pouted, “You can tell him stuff in front of us, can’t you, Mama? We miss you…”

The gentle sincerity in the girl’s voice melted the protest Sally was about to raise in response. With a little smile, she whispered, “I suppose you’re right… Come here, my little angels.” And she pulled them up into her arms in the large chair, her daughters immediately snuggling into her sides. The really had been missing her, and Sally smiled down at them for a moment more before giving Metic a very apologetic smile. “I’m sorry about this, Metic…”

His looked back to her eyes, his head shaking briefly with a few metallic clicks. “No need to apologize… Sally. You were, however, trying to tell me something before your daughters arrived…?” he politely prompted her.

The Queen nodded, and spoke calmly, “You’re the right man for the job, Metic. I want you in your post, as the Queen of Mobius as much as an old friend. Further, I’ll issue a public statement showing our support for Snively remains as much now as the beginning of the reconstruction. That really should calm things down a bit…”

Metic tipped his head to her once more. “If I can repay your support, please inform me, Sally. I’ll give you more time with your daughters.” His voice had softened strangely as he finished, bowing and starting to move away.

She smiled wanly, “Thanks, Metic…”

And both girls chorused, “Bye, bye, Mr. Metic.”

He paused, nodding over his shoulder, “Princesses…”

Once the door closed in his wake, Lita looked up at her mother with gentle curiosity on her little blue face. “Mama, why does Mr. Metic always look so sad?”

Sally turned a bit sad herself, glancing down thoughtfully. “…He’s just… got a lot on his mind, sweetie.”

Cathy nodded, snuggling close to Sally. “He’s scared.”

Lita accepted it, snuggling as well, but their mother looked down at Cathy curiously, “What makes you say that, Cathy?”

She blinked up at her mother. “He’s always trying to hide…”

It made Sally pensive, but she smiled as Cathy settled back into a content hug. Glancing off, the Queen pondered her daughter’s shrewd comment. _…It’s true. He’s_ _ **always**_ _hiding…_

* * *

Out in the hallway, Metic was waiting for the elevator to open, his optics appearing morose, though simply inactive as they gazed down into nothing, his body in a stand-by mode. When the doors opened, he looked up, only to gawk, staring right into a very familiar pair of brilliant green eyes in a smiling, softly furred face. Bunnie had lit up at the sight of him, and Rotor grinned, standing beside her in the elevator.

“Sugar-bot! What’re you doin’ up here?” the woman asked lightly as she stepped out of the lift with the walrus, preventing Metic from entering the elevator.

He wasn’t sure why he stuttered, but he did, “M-making a report to Queen Acorn about an incident in the city. I was just returning to my duties.”

Rotor chuckled, “You really are a hard worker there, Metic. Nothing’s too bad, I hope?”

Metic shook his head. “Everything is well in-hand, you needn’t worry, sir.”

Rotor blinked at the formal tone, but Bunnie pouted and nudged Metic’s shoulder as the elevator doors closed, Metic’s optics twitching from the sealed escape to her retreating hand. “It must be somethin’ serious to get your shiny butt all the way out here when yer so worried about seein’ any a-us, darlin’. What’s goin’ on?”

At this point, Rotor watched carefully, seeing the truly anxious nature of Metic’s body language. He was almost backing into the wall beside the elevator as Bunnie stood in front of him.

“T-there was a disturbance down… downtown, regarding Snively. I intervened, but it was complicated, and so I wished to notify the Queen of a possible problem.”

Seeming to ignore or miss the robot’s awkwardness, Bunnie set her hands on her hips, “Well are you sure it’s gonna be alright? I’m worried about you out there…”

The lift elevators opened again, and Metic instantly bowed to them both, backing into the lift. “It will be fine, Bunnie. Thank you for your concern. Rotor. Good day.”

After the doors shut, Rotor raised his eyebrows at Bunnie, but she was just frowning at the shut doors, her eyes quite serious. Finally, she muttered, “He tries that one more time, and I’ll bolt his feet to the ground, I swear…” She gave Rotor an impatient wave, and he chuckled as they walked to the throne-room together.

* * *

“Aunt Bunnie!” two young voices squealed with delight.

Rotor stood by with a big smile as Bunnie ducked down at the entrance to Sally’s office with a big grin, catching the twin blurs as they shot into her arms. “My little darlin’s!” She yanked them tightly into her sides, wiggling playfully, making the girls giggle. “How’re y’all doin’?”

Finally released, Lita hopped up and down, grinning, and said, “Mama’s letting us snuggle with her today!”

Cathy, a bit more composed, nodded. “Yes! We missed her storytime last night,” she explained quite seriously.

Bunnie pouted, nodding to Cathy’s grave explanation, and then looked up at their mother, who was walking up to join her friends and daughters. “Have you been neglectin’ your really important stuff again, Sally-girl?”

Blushing, the squirrel woman gave a soft laugh, nodding guiltily. “I’m afraid so. They’ve guilt-tripped me into letting them hang around a bit while I work because of it. Isn’t that right?”

“Yes!”

And just as quickly, both girls shot into Rotor’s legs, hugging him at the knees. The walrus laughed with his friends, and ducked down to return the hugs warmly. “Hey, girls.”

“Hi, Uncle Rotor!” they chorused.

Standing up, sharing a hug with Sally, Bunnie turned dry-humored, and asked, “So what was our ole rust-bucket doin’ up here by himself fer once?”

Sally gave another wan laugh, waving for them to join her back at her desk. Rotor picked up Lita and Cathy playfully to do so, listening to Sally’s answer, “Bit of a mess in the city. Snively nearly got lynched, basically,” Rotor winced a bit, Bunnie smirking, “and when Metic tried to calm it down, they started accusing him of working for Robotnik still.”

“Seriously?” Bunnie confirmed in exasperation as Sally sat down, Rotor letting Lita and Cathy down to zip over to their mother. The rabbit continued, “How can anyone think he’s workin’ for Snively?”

Sally shrugged helplessly, hugging her daughters again. “Just the mob mentality, I have to assume. At least is means people feel safe enough now to actual focus on that kind of thing. Riots are at least a normal city problem, not survival of our very race…”

Cathy suddenly announced, “Mr. Metic was hiding again.”

Sally blushed a bit, pulling her look-alike daughter into a tighter hug. “Cathy! You’re not supposed to say things like that about someone when they’re not around…”

Cathy pouted, but Bunnie raised an eyebrow.

“Hidin’ how…?”

Sally sighed, and gave Bunnie a wan smile. “Guess.”

Her smirk returned. “Gotcha. Anyway! Rotor and I have made a whole heap a-progress with that suit. I reckon it’s just about ready for a field-test!”

Rotor grinned with a nod, adding, “Definitely, Sal. It works perfectly for Bunnie, even a little better than projected.”

Sally grinned back. “That _is_ wonderful news. I’m glad to hear--!?”

Everyone gave a quick start when a high-pitched, electronic trill emanated from Sally’s desk with a flashing red button. Sally quickly pulled one hand from behind Cathy, and hit the button. Immediately, Nicole, lying on the desk up to this point, emitted a holosphere showing Dulcy’s long, green snout and large purple eyes. The dragoness was unusually serious, and actually seemed a bit battered. “Sal! I’m so glad I reached you!”

Focused and alarmed, Sally nodded. “Of course. Dulcy, what’s going on? You look like you’ve been in a--!?” Sally gasped, Bunnie and Rotor gawking, and the young girls hiding their faces in their mothers sides as an explosion flew up behind Dulcy, the image shaking violently with a boom coming over the filtered sound.

Dulcy replied, “Still in it! That’s the problem! We need help here at the spire, Sal! These weird people are attacking, and even with a whole bunch of us working together, we can’t seem to get them to leave! They’re trying to get to the eggs!”

“Bunnie!” Sally said first, urgently.

“We’ll meet at the ship! Should still be docked here!” Bunnie replied, Rotor rushing out of the room with her. “Time to test that suit!”

Focusing on the hologram, Sally nodded sharply. “Dulcy, we’re on our way! Hang in there!”

“Thanks--“ another explosion cut her off for a second, “Sal! We’ll hold the line, but please hurry!”

And the line blinked off. Sally quickly got out of her chair with her girls, and knelt with them for a moment. “Cathy, Lita, listen now, okay?”

They nodded attentively.

“This is very serious. Just like we’ve practiced, I want you both to hurry to your room, inform the security guards you’re there, and only leave with an escort, okay? Please, please, don’t go anywhere alone, I mean it.” She gripped their shoulders, tilting her head down. “Will you be good girls about this?”

They nodded, replying, “Yes, Mama.”

Cathy added, “We won’t do anything bad. Please come back soon.”

Their mother smiled fondly, and pulled them into a tight hug. “I’ll do my best, my angels. Daddy and I just need to help deal with some rude guests. Run along now! Give those legs a little stretch!” she finished with a strong, happy giggle.

Her daughters zipped off happily, letting Sally turn grave before she hit another button on her desk.

“What’s up, Sal?” Sonic asked easily.

“Sonic, we have a serious problem. Meet me at the ship.”

“There in a flash!”

* * *

An urgent attention notice came onto the screen of the computer in Metic’s office, causing the robot to snap his optics away from the open file in his hands. His calm face tensed instantly. “…’the Queen and defense minister departing on an urgent mission’?” He couldn’t help whispering, “Bunnie…” and then ran out of his office, startling his poor secretary. “Have they left yet!?”

Rarely seeing him animated, yet alone urgent, his secretary stumbled over her words for a heart-beat, and then managed, “J-just now, sir! I’m sorry, it only just arrived, I couldn’t arrange any contacts with--!?” she yelped, ducking as wind blasted the whole office from Metic’s frame shooting out of the building. “…Good luck, sir…” she finished meekly.

* * *

Sally piloted Uncle Chuck’s sleek cruiser once more, dressed in sturdy clothes with a jacket, shirt, and cargo-pants down into her old boots, Nicole strapped to her belt. Sonic, in his blue and gold armor stood just by her chair, Tails in a chair to the right, with Bunnie and Rotor near the back of the cockpit, Bunnie already in the suit. It now featured a mechanical backpack of some kind, with a massive cannon-type weapon connected down her back on the right side.

“Hang in there, Dulce,” Sonic muttered gravely. “Any idea what’s attacking the spire, Sal?”

His wife shook her head. “None. Just the call for help from Dulcy, really.”

Tails frowned as he examined the scanners. “No one really has a problem with dragons, I can’t think of any groups that might attack them.”

“Especially with Dulcy known as a hero of the rebellion.”

Rotor looked to the front of the cockpit after adjusting something on Bunnie’s backpack. “I’m not sure why, but my guess is more trouble from those weird guys. Garas, Vespa, and that dark knight.”

Sally turned grim. “Let’s hope not.”

Sonic flashed his old, confident smirk. “Come on, Sal, I can run circles around them both, just need a good go at ‘em.”

She glanced aside seriously, but didn’t voice her correction. One change between them since their daughters had been born was a simple understanding of the need to protect them. Sonic would never forget how close his daughters came to harm at the hands of that knight and his comrades. Finally, she just nodded, focusing ahead, forcing a smile. “That’s right…”

Bunnie smirked, reaching back with her right hand, and pulling the cannon forward, revealing that it was attached to her back by a hydraulic limb, allowing her to wield the massive weapon with one hand. “’Sides, we’ve got a few surprises for ‘em this time, Sally-girl.”

“There’s the spire!” Tails announced abruptly.

They all focused forward, Bunnie and Rotor walking up to join the others at the front, and they all shared a softly horrified expression at the sight. The dragon spire, as majestic with its natural beauty as it was, was smoking from dozens of locations, and flashes of fire and ice were visible around the top even that moment, dragons flying around the wide spines of the pinnacle, blasting fire and ice into the center at some dark figure flipping and dancing around with surprising speed and power.

“I don’t recognize that one,” Rotor muttered quietly.

Tails quickly brought up a zoomed image. Just landing from a back-flip, dark energy storming around his hands, a large, humanoid creature crouched there. His face was square and grave, his eyes blazing pools of black energy, his ‘hair’ a glowing main of similar flames. His body seemed made of crystal, metal, and plastic, mixed between silver and black colors. He was near the size of a dragon, but had an athletic build instead of a bulky one like Garas.

In reality, this new enemy rose up with a satisfied smile, and fired blasts of energy from his fists at circling dragons. The next second, part of the spire’s roof near his feet exploded with violent pink light, and Vespa burst up into view, dropping down onto spread legs over her own exit hole, her expression twisted with rage.

“Where’s the egg, Vespa?” the black and silver one demanded flatly, blocking a blast of fire with a shield emanating from his right arm.

“Defended by dozens more of these stupid lizards! Get down there and help me, Mosif!” the pink cyborg demanded angrily, energy writhing off her body.

“What’s the matter, can’t stick around for the party?”

Both of them jerked, spinning around violently as a blue streak shot between them, pulling their energies into its wake. Sonic halted at the far end of the roof, smirking, arms akimbo as they both rounded on him. Mosif firmed, the dragons in the air halting their attacks for the moment to avoid hitting Sonic, and Vespa gathered more energy along her arms.

“There are cheaper ways of making an omelet, ya know?” Sonic persisted in his exasperating confidence.

Mosif aimed his fists at Sonic. “Vespa, get the egg. I’ll fend off these Mobians!”

“Ah, ah, ah!” Dulcy’s voice boomed up from the depths of the spire, and the two invaders had to leap to either side to avoid her crashing up through them.

The dragoness flipped up into the air, and landed opposite Sonic, legs spread, wings up, eyes sharp. She’d matured drastically since the fall of Robotnik, and looked surprisingly intimidating with a dark set to her normally innocent, happy eyes. “You’re not touching the roust-chamber, you glowing freaks.”

Vespa roared, just about to fire on the dragon, when blasts of light and sound exploded around her. She roared yet again, furious, and glared up at the ship rising into view just over Dulcy, Sally smiling visibly in the cockpit. Her voice boomed out over a speaker, “I suggest you retreat again, Vespa. This isn’t going to end well for you.”

“Stupid rodent! I’ll burn the flesh off your bones!” Vespa rammed her hands forward, unleashing beams of explosive pink energy.

The ship’s shields held, though Sally had to brace herself as the whole vessel quaked from the impact.

“’Scuse me, darlin’?”

Vespa twisted at her waist, her eyes flaring at the armored figure of Bunnie, standing out on the edge of a radial spine for the spire, her huge cannon ready to fire, five barrels revving into a spin on the front of it. “Thought I’d introduced myself, bein’ as ya love attackin’ all ma friends. Tell me how you like it, sugar!” she said quite lightly before unloading a stream of high-velocity blasts from her weapon, her entire frame shaking, but holding position as a wall of projectiles slammed into Vespa.

Mosif finally opened fire, blasting at Sonic with his fists, but the blue wonder turned into a curving streak, flitting up, and bashing across the larger cyborg’s legs, the crystalline parts of his structure chiming as his knees hit the roof. “Too slow, glow-dome!”

Vespa roared, flaring energy off her body to block the assault from Bunnie, and then rammed her hand through her own shield, sending a powerful blast back toward the armored rabbit. Bunnie stopped firing, shifting her weight, and leaping mightily, clearing the multi-meter gap between her current position and the next spine jutting out of the top of the spire. She landed with astonishing ease for her added bulk, and snapped her Vulcan-cannon out with her right arm, still crouching from her landing. “You can do better ‘an that, darlin’!” and she opened fire again.

This time, trusting Sonic to dodge for himself, Dulcy, all the other dragons, and Sally with her ship joined the barrage. Waves of fire, cones of ice, missiles, and energy blasts surged across the rooftop. Both invaders were finally forced into the defensive, so totally outnumbered this time.

Tails flew across the battle from a higher altitude, carrying Rotor under the shoulders. The walrus lifted out a few metal cylinders, and let them drop after gauging the positions of their targets.

Mosif shouted in pain as a cylinder exploded near his legs, unleashing a scrambling wave of energy that numbed him, and let Sonic land a full on buzz-saw slam into his chest, knocking him onto his back.

Vespa flipped over another cylinder before it exploded, dancing through Bunnie’s assault, and then suddenly shot through the air in a blur of light and motion. Bunnie jerked back as Vespa landed just in front of her, the cyborg slamming one hand into Bunnie’s chest, leaning down over her as Bunnie’s back hit the spine she was using to launch her attack. “I’ll rip that stupid mouth out of her head!”

Bunnie curled her legs up, aiming at the woman’s stomach. “Try it!” Her suit whirred, and her legs rammed out like pistons.

Vespa actually grunted, folding around the double-leg kick, and shot off like a bolt, arcing to the far side of the spire, slamming flat against the opposite spine. Bunnie flipped onto her feet, aimed, and opened fire with her cannon again.

“We must have the egg! You fools can’t fathom it’s energy-potential!” Mosif shouted suddenly, and reared up. Sonic skidded to a halt in front of him, leaping back for a better line of attack, only to gawk as Mosif flared black energy off his entire body, blocking flame, ice, missiles, and blasts alike. Swinging his arms out, Mosif shifted his entire body into the motion of slamming his hands together.

More than just a shockwave of sound, energy erupted along the sphere-wave of his attack, ripping across the top of the spire. Sonic blurred out of its path, but Dulcy, the other dragons, and Sally’s ship were all rammed away. Tails had to steady himself above, nearly dropping Rotor. “What did he just do!?”

Rotor shook his head. “Not sure, seemed like some kind of energy-charged force-blast.”

Mosif walked out of the center of his attack, energy building on his fists as he aimed down at Sonic. “Enough games.”

Bunnie was shifting her aim to aid Sonic, but Vespa burst out of the fading energy in front of her, landing with a hand-swat at the cannon, knocking it out to the side. “Nice kick. My turn.” And she violently twisted, ramming her left leg out in a round-house kick.

Bunnie couldn’t duck in time, it was supremely fast. Her suit took the blow, and the poor woman was sent flipping over herself like rag-doll, slamming flat against the spine she’d originally attacked from, several meters away from the point of impact. Groaning, she muttered, “My stars…” and pushed herself up, her cannon automatically pulling onto her back for storage.

Vespa slammed down in front of her, and snapped her foot into Bunnie’s chest, flipping the woman onto her back. Before she could stomp down on her, however, Bunnie flipped back onto her feet under her own power with the suit, let Vespa’s downward kick miss, denting the spine at their feet, and bodily tackled the glowing cyborg, roaring at her. They started to wrestle on the edge there.

Sonic blurred around Mosif, and while he could dodge the black blasts of energy from the giant’s fists, his attacks couldn't’ do enough damage to make the brute stop. Glancing out, he saw Bunnie’s peril, and streaked toward her abruptly. “Bunnie! Switch!”

Bunnie leapt off the spine, flying back through the air, flipping over herself, and landing just into Sonic’s wake as he charged into Vespa. Bunnie snapped her cannon out with a smile in her eyes, just visible in the visor of the suit, opening fire on Mosif. He blocked with a shield off one arm, firing back with the other fist, but Bunnie could hop from point to point while firing, and his shield was wavering as she constantly unloaded on him.

Sonic blurred right up to Vespa, who struck out with a barrage of punches and kicks at super-sonic speed. He lightly dodged around them, then slapped her across the face, smirking as they both paused. Vespa was shocked first, then glowered viciously. Growling, she blasted energy off her whole body, forcing Sonic to blitz backward, then duck her diving tackle at his torso.

As the dragons and Sally’s ship returned to the fight, Mosif slammed his fist down into the roof of the spire, releasing a shock-wave of energy, like a wall of black power, out from his feet. Bunnie leapt back, but it still caught her, and she was thrown across the roof, skidding to a halt on her back, groaning. Vespa flickered around Sonic’s buzz-saw rushes, and then unleashed a similar shock-wave from her own energy, arching her back with spread arms to do so. Sonic blurred away, but had to do so out on a spine, limiting his options to move.

Next, Mosif leapt clear through the air, Vespa blurring to her right, and the larger of the two landed in front of Sonic, Vespa appearing just over Bunnie with a dark smile on her face. “Miss me?”

Bunnie started to snap her gun up at the pink-white creature. “Not enough!”

But Vespa kicked the gun out to the side, and launched herself onto Bunnie, one hand pressing down into her left shoulder, the other grabbing her neck with vice-like power, closing tighter. Bunnie choked, trying to pull her cannon or legs in to leverage the cyborg off her, but she could barely move. “N-Need… help…” she croaked into her comm-line.

Sally instantly twisted her ship, focusing all of her fire, but froze. She couldn’t fire without hitting Bunnie as well. “Sonic!”

He braced, focusing across Mosif, on Bunnie. “This is getting old…” he growled, and burst toward Mosif in a full charge.

Mosif rammed him back with an energy shield, deflecting dragon attacks with his other arm. Dulcy started to charge to aid Bunnie, Tails swinging Rotor around to try and attack, but none of them could really attack from range without risking just as much harm to Bunnie.

None of them detected the black streak out in the desert, closing on the spire that very moment. Metic, leaned forward into his run, burned with speed, his legs a skittering blur, his optics bright, but sharp. His comm-line came into range, just in time to hear Sally desperately cry out, “Somebody help her!”

His optics flared, and he focused up, mechanically zooming to the roof of the spire… where Vespa was slowly squeezing the life out of Bunnie. He actually growled, his electronic voice making it far more haunting than a normal sound, and his optics twisted with instinctive rage. His blade-fins revved violently, and white power burst out of his body, swirling into a sphere. He twirled into a ball, and shot off like a comet.

Bunnie shivered, but finally twisted her arm inside Vespa’s pressing into her shoulder. “Not… that easy… sugar…”

“I’ll crush your life out of you!”

Bunnie wrenched her arm out, forcing Vespa to lean up slightly, but keeping her hand clamped around the woman’s neck. Everyone gawked, Bunnie blinking in shock, when a bright flash slammed straight into Vespa, carrying her clean off the roof, high up into the air. Mosif, alarmed for his comrade, joined everyone in looking up for a heart-beat as Metic unfolded from his ball-ram, grabbing onto Vespa so he could slam his fists and feet into her with mechanical ferocity.

“You!” Vespa realized in dark excitement. She returned the blows Metic gave her as they shot up past Tails and Rotor, the young fox yelping.

“Whoa!”

Metic’s expression was locked in a dark glare, even as Vespa belted him across the head. She unleashed a blast of energy into his face, but he simply snapped back with it, and used his feet to slam around her waist, yanking her down after him.

They started to fall, Sally starting to move the ship to catch them, Bunnie leaping up to her feet and dashing to the edge of the roof. “Sugar-bot, watch out!”

It was there she saw his face as he focused on Vespa in their combat, falling just past the edge of the roof. Dulcy had to stare herself, both women seeing the ungodly rage animating the robot’s face.

Mosif turned from the spectacle, and sent his fists down at Sonic, but the blue-blur rushed around the energies and limbs, running up the left arm, flipping off the shoulder, and buzz-sawing down his back. Mosif reared back with a shout of pain, and spun around to continue the fight.

Vespa, meanwhile, slammed Metic into the side of the spire as they fell, ripping its surface with his back and limbs. Metic didn’t even waver this time, instead he clamped his hands into her arms, and wrenched her around himself, slamming her face-first into the side of the wall as they fell down. The spire was an incredible structure, nearly two kilometers tall, and they were cleaving a path down its side with incredible speed. Vespa added her power to their descent, streaking pink light, and Metic added his own, mingling white power as well.

They started to roll and tumble along the wall, grappling, bashing, and slamming into each other with such power and speed that no organic could really fight the same way. One blow would shatter bones and rupture organs, but neither of them had such concerns. Sally, along with the others, finally just hovered, watching as the pair flew off the side of the spire, and slammed down into the sand-pit that bent down to the base of the spire.

Standing in steep sands, the two faced off for a heart-beat. Vespa sneered, and blitzed into him. Their arms stormed together for a few seconds, then Vespa solidified, her left fist stretched forward with her body into a violent blow across his head. Metic twisted from his head down, flying off, plowing across the sand higher up the incline. Vespa blurred after him, laughing, but she gawked when he burst upright in the sand, and caught her falling fist, sand pulsing out from his feet. “Stay away from her!” he ground out furiously before she could even land, and then wrenched her around by her arm, planting his legs wide, swinging her like a whip to throw her off with incredible power.

Vespa actually cried out in alarm, then plowed deep into the sands herself. Metic burst after her, not knowing Bunnie was watching from so high above, her visor zoomed down to their fight, her eyes softened with worry for the fury and power her friend was showing so suddenly.

Furious, Vespa ripped herself out of the sand, and blasted to meet Metic. He slid under her punch, and they twisted to meet each other again, Metic blocking her elbow-slam, only to take a knee to the chest, hefting his body out of the sand. Vespa snapped another hand out, grabbing his foot, and slammed him into the sand on her opposite side, then wrenched him out to the side, swinging around like a vortex before throwing him into the base of the spire.

This time Metic exploded with power. He froze his momentum just at the side of the spire, his legs spread toward it, claws out, his optics aimed up at her angrily as his body almost turned white with power, bleeding off into the air as his blade-fins became streaks of energy with the revving. In his vision, his HUD flared with warnings. The energy drain warning was different this time, flashing urgently, declaring ‘critical charge failure’.

“I won’t let you harm her…” he rasped, and before Vespa could even respond, erupted into his attack.

He had never fought with such ferocity, desperate speed, and power. Vespa could barely keep up as he slammed into her bodily, then twirled around, berating her with his fists, feet, elbows, and knees, finally spinning out with an energy-streaking back-hand across her head. She groaned, her face actually warping from the blow before she flew off, spiraling, plowing into the sand painfully, flipping and tumbling hundreds of meters away, falling limp.

Mosif, reeling back from a body-slam from Sonic on the roof, suddenly twisted around with alarm. “Vespa!?”

She twitched, trying to pick herself up out of the sand so far below her comrade.

Metic stood there, still bleeding energy into the air, optics blazing, fury in his expression.

Mosif leapt off the roof, startling everyone. Tails rejoined Sally with Rotor on the ship before she dove down with the Dragons and Sonic, running along the spire, as they chased Mosif down. Bunnie leapt off, bounding from point to point down the spire herself, thanks to her enhanced armor.

With a thunderous crash, Mosif landed near Vespa, staring at Metic. Metic’s respirator cycled powerfully, his energy starting to fade. “Leave!”

Mosif seemed awed by Metic in that moment, but quickly firmed, grabbed Vespa, and shot off like a rocket into the distance.

Metic lingered, his energy fading completely, his blade-fins stopping. He actually coughed, his body twitching. His optics flickered. Finally, his optics went dark, and he gave a falling moan as his body crashed limp into the sand.

“Metic!?” Bunnie cried out, Sally and the others alarmed, fearing for their friend.

Bunnie slammed down to her haunches in the sand, and hopped powerfully to close the distance to the prone robot. “Come on, darlin’, don’t go shuttin’ down on me!” She gripped his shoulders, pulling him over onto his back. His terribly limp body and blank optics horrified her, her mouth hanging open in her helmet. “My stars… Metic…?” she asked weakly, afraid this time.

His neck twitched, his optics flickering weakly. She smiled, shaking him, but his eyes started to fade again, and her eyes constricted with controlled fear. She was the only one close enough to hear his last conscious words.

“…Protect… Bunnie…”

She looked up, holding him to her front, and screamed, “ _Rotor_!”

* * *

Metic lay on a bed in a large, clean chamber with white walls and scanning equipment near the bed. Positioned in the left portion of the room, it left plenty of space for his worried friends to stand by, waiting for Uncle Chuck and Rotor’s report on his condition. Sally and Sonic stood back, their daughters in their arms. Dulcy, curled down to avoid hitting anything valuable, had come back to check on Metic since he helped defend the spire so well. Tails lingered near Sally and Sonic, Antoine watching gravely from just behind Bunnie, who stood at the front of their group, out of her armor, back in her normal clothes, her left ear flopped down near her face.

Rotor stepped back from the bed with Sir Charles, and the aged hedgehog seemed quite grave. “I’m afraid it’s not good news, everyone…”

Rotor remained quiet, looking down into nothing, letting Sir Charles explain.

Sally calmly asked, “What’s wrong with him, Sir Charles?” Lita, in her mother’s arms, looked over sadly at Metic’s body, pouting for him.

“His power source is nearly spent. We can’t be sure, but Rotor’s equipment is solid, and it indicates that years of constant use have finally used up most of that Power Ring in his torso.” Seeing their sorrowful faces, he frowned softly. “I’m really not sure what to do for him. I can tell, however, that this has been coming for a long time. He must have been at critically low levels for weeks.”

Bunnie’s eyes tightened at the floor. _Is that why you were pullin’ away, sugar-bot? Were you trying to die without hurtin’ us?_

Sonic firmed. “Can’t we just replace the ring, Unc?”

Sir Charles shook his head slowly. “It’s not that simple, Sonny. You remember he was modified from Robotnik’s original design _by_ the ring you rammed into his chest at the time?”

It was a disturbing memory for everyone there, but Sonic nodded.

“It partially fused with his systems. I fear that removing it, even for an instant, might kill him immediately, and far more literally than any other simple robot. It’s not a normal power ring any more.” He cleared his throat softly. “I’ll make this matter my main focus, everyone. I’ll do my best to find a way to restore his power-source, but… I can’t pretend this isn’t very serious. To be…” he trailed off, frowning firmly, looking down.

Rotor actually spoke up at last. “Guys… we have to be prepared for the worst.”

Tails’ ears drooped, his tails falling down on the floor. “This is terrible…”

Cathy pouted, tearing up, “But Mr. Metic is really nice…”

Her father caressed her hair, holding her closer. “…Thanks all the same, Unc.”

Sir Charles tipped his head. Focusing on Bunnie, shrewdly, he said in a lower voice, “I’m sorry.” He patted her shoulder, starting to move around her.

Even Sally was unsure what to say to the rabbit woman, and so she kissed her daughter in her arms, and gently turned with her husband, following the others in slowly leaving the room. After a few minutes, only Rotor and Bunnie remained in the room with the inactive robot.

Bunnie slowly stepped closer to the bed, looking calmly down at Metic’s emotionless metal face. Rotor waited quietly, but then spoke to her, “He’d be glad, you know? That he was able to spend his last moments protecting you.”

Though it saddened her, she nodded, and replied, “Yeah… thanks, Rotor, darlin’…”

The walrus looked at her back, a stoic wisdom growing in his expression. It was the less known aspect of his nature. He was a kind, jovial fellow, but he understood much more than just machines. And he cared for this woman, so sad, in front of him. “…He loved… Loves you very much.”

Bunnie had to close her eyes, her brow creasing. “R-Rotor… please…”

“It shouldn’t make you sad, Bunnie.”

She gripped the side of the bed tightly, her shoulders bunching up. “I know… I know, but… he… never got a chance… ta…”

Rotor stepped up behind her, resting a hand on her tight shoulder. “Bunnie… I know you like him, too.”

He felt her jerk before she twisted to look at him, blinking dampness out of her eyes. “W-what…?”

A wan smile answered with, “I know you pretty well, Bunnie. You wouldn’t have been so annoyed with him for staying away from us if you didn’t want him to stay around yourself.”

She blushed, wincing a little. “R-Rotor…”

He shook his head. “I love you, Bunnie. I really do. That’s why I want you to be happy. I think we’ll always be good friends.” He smiled, and then nodded seriously to Metic’s body. “We’ll do what we can for him. You don’t need to worry about me, if you were.”

Bunnie just stayed there, her face softening, both sad for him, and deeply touched. “D-darlin’… I feel awful about all this…”

Rotor smiled. “You’ve always been great to me, Bunnie, but I noticed a while back that you and Metic had… something special. I couldn’t really see what it was clearly, but it was there. And besides… he needs you, too. Or do you think he would have hung on that long for anyone else?”

She blushed seriously, glancing down, guilty for the very point he’d made.

“That’s why I said he’d be glad. Hopefully Uncle Chuck and I can make sure he can enjoy that he looked out for you again.”

Bunnie finally smiled up at him softly, tears gently dripping from her eyes. “…Rotor, you’re so sweet… I haven’t been fair ta you…”

He just shook his head, and started for the door. “When you leave, just make sure the door seals behind you.” And he left them alone together.

Sorrowful gratitude for her friend’s words and intentions made her linger where she was for a moment, but then she slowly turned back to the bed, focusing down on Metic’s face. Smiling wanly, she reached up, and actually caressed his face with her soft hand. Cold, hard metal, but the creature it made up was no noble in her eyes, so kind… and so hurt for her sake. In many ways.

Bunnie leaned down, and kissed his cheek. She whispered, “We’ll find a way to help, darlin’… Just you wait. I can’t have you runnin’ off on me again.” She tried to laugh a bit, and patted his shoulder before moving away.

She was gone before his optics flickered weakly.

“…Bunnie.”


	4. Sandopolis Zone

Lita kicked her legs on the side of her bed, her feet hitting the covers draped down with them. She was frowning, her hands down at her sides, her little brow knitted in thought. Across from her, in their bedroom, Cathy was laying flat across her bed, her own legs dangling over the side as well. It was a beautiful room, with a large window for plenty of sun, an artistic, cloudy sky painted across the ceiling, family pictures on the walls, and toys, dolls, and computers along the back wall.

“It’s no fair,” Lita finally huffed. “Every time something important starts, we get stuffed in our room…”

“We’re not big and strong like Mama and Papa and their friends,” Cathy calmly replied. “We’d just get in trouble. You remember what happened when that big meanie attacked us. Mama had to keep us safe. I’ve never seen her so upset.”

Lita blushed a bit, nodding. “Yeah… I guess so. And now Mr. Metic is sick.”

“Yeah…” Cathy pouted up at the ceiling. “Uncle Chuck said it was too tough to fix him, but I don’t understand why…”

Lita shrugged, looking over at her sister. “He’s all drained and stuff. Like a battery.”

“You can recharge batteries…”

“Not all of ‘em.”

Cathy sat up, frowning like her mother when there was a big problem to fix. “Maybe Mr. Metic just needs a lot of extra power to make up for all the power he lost?”

Lita blinked. “Whaddya mean?”

“I mean like Papa. Remember those bed-time stories about evil Dr. Robotnik and the freedom fighters? Papa used magic rings! He could go super-fast, even faster than normal! Mr. Metic uses the magic rings, too, we heard Uncle Chuck say so.”

“But he uses a weird one…”

“But that doesn’t mean he can’t use a normal one, too!”

Cathy hopped down, animated, grinning. “We just need to bring Mr. Metic a power ring!”

Lita seemed surprised rather than worried. “But how? We don’t have any rings here…”

Cathy stamped her feet. “We. Go. Get. One of course!”

Again, this made Lita more excited rather than worried, and she hopped down onto her feet instantly. “Really!? Go to the magic pool at old Knothole!?”

Cathy nodded, blurring her head she was so enthusiastic about it. “Exactly! Come on!”

Lita started to rev up with her, but stuttered to a halt. “W-wait, Mama and Papa won’t let us go out that far alone…”

Cathy paused, scratching the back of her head, blushing. “…I was gonna… ya know… not tell them yet…”

Lita grinned. “There and back before they notice?”

Cathy winked. “Exactly!”

They both leapt up, legs whirling into blurs of motion. “Let’s juice!”

* * *

Her breath was loud and filtered inside the suit, but, rather like her heartbeat, it was a rhythmic, almost meditative sound. The cargo hold of Uncle Chuck’s ship was dimly lit around her as she moved around, slowly panning the massive cannon around with her right arm, hearing the mechanical limb that supported the weapon’s weight hiss and whir faintly. Bunnie was deep in thought, really just distracting her body with something to do as she felt her troubles swirl around her mind.

Since she had learned, back in the fight with Robotnik, that Metic really was on their side, really had good intentions, however simplistic, she felt sympathy for him. Her anger at his past actions, really in another life entirely, had vanished when he helped her get her limbs back, and even helped with the deroboticizer that helped free her, and all of Mobius, from the evils of mechanical slavery.

Even near the end of the war with Robotnik, she had known Metic had unusually strong… attention for her. Originally, it was uncomfortable, but she muscled through it to show him proper thanks for the efforts he had done, to try and welcome him once she knew he was truly with them, but that had started to change.

Bunnie, a long time ago now, had realized her uncomfortable feelings around Metic were deeply unfair. Like anyone else, his mechanical body, his alien nature were not something she could truly relax around, but she was supposed to know better. For years, she had suffered through life as a cyborg. Trapped with metal limbs that warped her body and made her feel like an ugly monstrosity, Bunnie had benefited from the kindness and warmth of her friends… really her family. They had all taken so much care to make her feel normal and loved.

It was a moot point now. She had her natural limbs back, but Metic, in a way, had the same problem. He couldn’t help his body, how he was made, and yet there she’d been, trying to keep him just far enough away to avoid being too close to the ‘creepy robot’.

When she understood that, a great deal of her discomfort around him faded. And he had never given her reason to mistrust him. Not once. Over time, though, Metic grew distant, lost to his work… and now, at last, she understood why he had seemingly disappeared from his friends.

The thought made Bunnie jerk physically as her memory and guilt twisted together for an instant. She pulled the large weapon back with her arm, and locked it into place along her back. Alone, safe… she sank to her knees, tears dripping from her beautiful eyes. A sob shook her normally strong, boisterous frame, and she sank down onto her hands as well, the suit’s helmet popping open and sinking down into the neck-guard.

“Ya have ta be alright, sugar-bot… please… Yer not gonna hurt me… Come back… come back, please, so I can tell ya… So ya don’t have ta hide anymore…”

Bunnie’s eyes squeezed shut more tightly, her fingers clenching at the metal plating beneath her. It hurt so much… She had seen how hard he fought for her, how desperately, how _furiously_. He was a robot, yes, but those glowing red optics looked at her… the way she’d wanted to be looked at.

She pressed a hand to her heart through the armor of her suit, remembering his anxiety around her the last few times they’d met, remembering the sound in that synthetic voice of his when he called out to her, thinking he’d hurt or offended her right here in this cargo bay. Metic had been so powerful and durable, she thought he would be the last, of any of their group, to be at death’s door… now he was the first.

She’d had all the time in the world, and now she would give anything for just one more breath with him, just one more moment to tell him everything was alright… tell him that she…

“Bunnie?”

The armored woman jerked, her eyes flaring as she blushed violently.

Sally was standing at the entrance to the cargo-hold, wearing casual, but dark clothing under her old blue vest, her expression lit with concern. “Bunnie are you hurt?”

Quickly wiping her face clean, Bunnie rose up with a laugh, and turned around. “Hey there, Sally-girl! I jus’ tripped, like some old granny!” She forced another easy laugh.

Sally knew her dear friend too well for that. The squirrel remained concerned, and walked in, pulling Bunnie into a hug, awkward as it was with a huge weapon on her back. Bunnie exhaled, but returned the hug tightly, her ears sinking down over her head, practically falling down Sally’s back.

“…Uncle Chuck will figure something out, Bunnie. We’re not giving up on Metic, I promise you.”

Bunnie desperately strained not to sob again. Her friend’s voice was so sincere and soft, so compassionate for her pain. “…I…”

Sally heard Bunnie’s throat shifting tightly, trying to speak, but too clenched with emotion to manage it yet. She waited, patient and gentle, just embracing the rabbit-woman supportively.

At last, Bunnie gasped, “I thought I… had time…”

Hearing the pained voice of her normally cheerful, wonderful friend made Sally’s eyes water before she squeezed them shut. “I know, Bunnie… It’s not your fault. Don’t you dare blame yourself, okay?” She patted Bunnie’s head, stroking the fur soothingly. “This terrible thing just happened. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I-I know that, S-Sally-girl, but I--?”

“No buts, Bunnie,” Sally firmly and quietly cut her off, squeezing her hug.

“No, please… listen…”

They pulled apart softly, Bunnie’s weeping eyes looking into her friends seriously. “You know he loves me, Sally-girl…”

Sally nodded gently, bowing her head after.

“…and I don’t wanna fight this fight without him around either…”

The Queen of Mobius gawked, staring at her friend in sincere astonishment. “…B-Bunnie…”

Bunnie nodded slowly. “He’s kind, he’s strong… and you and I both know he only got so strange around us because he was worried about hurtin’ me. …And I need ta tell him this, too.”

Sally didn’t want to offend her friend, but her concern was too deep not to address. “B-But Bunnie, he’s…”

The rabbit smiled wanly, and said, “So was I, Sally-Girl…”

“Bunnie, this is diff--?”

This time, Bunnie just shook her head. “Not in the way that matters. I’ve been missin’ him, and now that he’s so hurt, my heart is breakin’. I need him to be okay, Sally-girl. I really do.”

Sally firmed. She felt she had to say this, had to make sure her friend realized what she was doing. “Bunnie, please. Just because you were a cyborg for so long doesn’t mean you have to choose Metic. He wouldn’t want you to!”

“That’s right,” Bunnie said knowingly. “In fact, he’s been hidin’ and runnin’ from me just ta make right-sure I don’t choose him. Sally-girl… I _want_ to choose him. I feel somethin’… right with him. Something’ quiet… subtle… but when he shut down out there at the spire, when his optics went black, that somethin’ hurt so much in me I barely made it back here myself.”

She reached up, holding her friend’s hair. “Don’t get me wrong, I’d hurt more ‘an I want to know if you, or any of us got hurt the same, but this was somethin’ else, Sally-girl. Please… don’t second-guess me on this just because he’s made of metal.”

Sally hesitated, her mouth agape, wanting to speak, but anxious about offending Bunnie on such a deeply personal matter. “…Bunnie… he… can’t…” She just shook her head.

Bunnie turned very serious, almost grim, and said, “And that’s not his fault.”

At last, the squirrel-woman tilted her head, her eyes tightening as she saw the look in her friend’s eyes. She saw it, glistening in those beautiful green depths. The love… the sacrifice, the devotion, the courage… the strength. It was exactly the way her own eyes would look if Sonic was sick, even dying, and she was forced to convince her best friend he wasn’t some monster she couldn’t be with.

Sally reached up, cupping Bunnie’s cheeks, and pulled her down to kiss her forehead. “…Please forgive me for doubting or questioning you… It wasn’t right of me.”

Bunnie held her hands to her cheeks for a moment, smiling, and looked up into her eyes as she let go at last. “No, darlin’. You were jus’ bein’ the great friend you always have been ta me. I’m just askin’ you ta trust me on this one.”

Sally nodded. “And I do.” With a bit of mischief in her smile, she added, “He’s one lucky robot.”

At last, the rabbit could laugh. Blushing fiercely, but laughing. “…So is your husband, Sally-girl.”

Sally winked. “Isn’t he, though?”

They both laughed again.

Once she was able to breathe, Bunnie waved at her friend casually, “So what on Mobius brought ya down here in the first place, Sally-girl?”

Smirking a bit, the squirrel pulled out a special pistol from her belt behind her back, and held it out to her friend. “A little something I cooked up with Rotor’s help before we went to the spire. I had to finish it off.”

Bunnie took it, looking at it. “Doesn’t look too powerful… what’s it do?”

Still pleased, her friend explained, “It’s a tagger. Specially designed. With Nicole’s help to create the tracker itself, it should stick to one of those four entities, and finally tell us where the heck they’re going.”

A rather dark satisfaction lit Bunnie’s eyes at the point. “Now yer talkin’ my language again, Sally-girl… I’d just _love_ ta know where they’re comin’ from…”

“So would I.”

* * *

Sonic adjusted the white glove of his battle-suit. Sally had commissioned Uncle Chuck to make the suit for him after Robotnik fell, and he had to admit, it looked good on him. It was patterned after his own natural colors, with special heat-resistant weave spanning his body, punctuated with armored plates of special gold-alloys.

Another little favor he got out of being Sally’s husband and the ‘Minister of Defense’ (which still made him twitch) was the special chamber built into the heart of the palace. It was a giant sphere, filled with tracks looping and twisting in every possible direction, and amplified for difficulty with various traps and surprises. Blaster turrets, saw strikers, collapsing track, springing track, everything he could think of… just to stay loose.

Besides, the girls were getting really fast…

With a smirk, he leaned down, and shot off, the chamber shuddering with a sonic concussion as he ripped up the first loop, rolled up to flit between several snapping blade-arms, and shot across a suddenly formed gap to the next loop.

That was when the alert sounded.

Sonic skidded to a halt, and let himself drop down, hitting his anti-grav controls on his special shoes to land safely as red lights flooded the practice sphere. In a flash, he was out of the room, heading for Sally’s office.

Naturally, he burst through the doors first, and no one else was there yet, so he zipped behind the desk and touched the controls to display the alert. Sally, Bunnie, Uncle Chuck, Rotor, Antoine, Tails, and Dulcy herself came rushing through a moment later, Sonic already grim at the display on the holo-screen.

Sally stopped short. “The Sandopolis facility?”

Indeed, a sea of dunes and churning sand were visible in the backdrop of the vast, dark metal structure displayed in the screen, explosions and energy flares scattering across its various cranes, tracks, and supply platforms.

Sonic added, “Looks like it, Sal. And it’s all of our old friends, too.” The view zoomed in, showing the mysterious knight himself, as well as Garas, Vespa, and Mosif, all scattered around, attacking different parts of the facility.

“They sure don’t give up…” Dulcy muttered.

Sally wasted no more time, twisting back to the group. “We’ve got to go! Sir Charles?”

“Ship’s ready, your majesty.”

Bunnie activated her suit, the helmet closing back around her head, and with her darker mood, she cut a decidedly ominous picture. “Let’s not be strangers now…”

They all started to rush out of the office, heading for the hangar, Sonic ripping ahead to help get it started up for all of them. Sally pulled out a personal comm stick from her vest, and keyed it on. “Cathy, Lita! Girls, where are you?”

* * *

Cathy squeaked, then her feet did the same as she rammed herself to a halt in the middle of the Great Forest, Lita nearly plowing into her back. Instead of fussing at her sister, the blue-spined girl was just as worried. Cathy quickly touched the little button on her dress-collar. “M-Mama! Is something wrong?”

“Don’t worry, girls,” Sally’s voice came over the line in a rushed but soothing manner. “Your father and I just need to take care of something important. Please, I need you both to stay in your room. Can you do that for me?”

The girls shared a guilty look, hesitating… and then Lita replied, “Of course, Mama! We’ll… be right in our rooms!”

“Good girls. Please be safe. We’ll get you both some ice-cream when we’re back, okay?” Sally sounded almost out of breath.

It only made the two feel drastically worse, but they put on brave smiles, and said, “Thank you, Mama!”

“See you soon.”

The signal clicked off.

Lita pointed forward. “We’re gonna get in trouble anyway at this point, let’s finish!”

Cathy nodded, and they bolted.

* * *

The dark knight ripped his beam-sword through a massive chain-link, dropping down lightly to the platform several meters below as the entire line of hanging ore-carriers started to crash down onto the hover-barge he had taken for the task just moments ago. He looked up through his visor, and saw Mosif across an ocean of sand, on the far side of the massive facility, ripping out huge storage tanks of water, clamping the pipe-leads shut with his raw strength, and stacking them to one side.

Garas roared, his fists swinging out on thick chords of metal as he bashed down cranes and supply lifters on a higher level, behind the dark knight. Workers tried to fend him off with crude, improvised weapons from their tools. He laughed at them, and stomped around, leveling a rec-room facility with one swing of his mace-fists.

Vespa was even more destructive at the far corner of the facility. She flickered around the command structures, blasting them to pieces with beams of power from her fists. Every time she heard screams she laughed, turning more fierce and furious. It was all such a thrill, the wind racing around her body, the power surging through her, the melting and exploding metal walls and supports, the raining glass.

Finally, Vespa flipped down onto the top of the barely standing command tower, laughing. She saw Mosif still stacking water tanks, and shouted across the distance to him. “That’s plenty, you lazy oaf! Move on to something we still need!”

Mosif growled, energy shimmering along his dark body as he glared up at her. “And what about you!? Stop swatting flies, and help us do the real work!”

“I’m _doing_ my job!”

The knight’s voice rang out. “You fools! Look up!”

They both did, just in time to take hyper-sonic missiles to their faces. Vespa was sent flying off into the sands, while Mosif plowed back into the wreckage of the tank-frames, metal and bars flying up around his flailing legs.

Bunnie, in her armored suit, slammed to a crouch not far from Mosif, metal still falling down around him, and she dislodged her cannon from her back, letting it rev up with a dark smile in her eyes.

Dulcy dove down, starting to circle above Bunnie, as a blue blur shot down behind her, toward the control tower itself.

Sir Charles’ cruiser whirled down from the sky, cutting across the churning sand-ocean where the ores were being processed. It unleashed a ripping volley of sonic blasts and energy beams toward the dark knight and Garas. The knight deftly shot out of the path of destruction, landing on the top of the hang-track he’d just attacked himself, while Garas roared, stumbling back under a hail of fire, then crashed onto his backside as his fists snapped back to his arms.

As the ship shot overhead, the rear hangar was clearly open, and Antoine and Rotor hung out the back, dropping the walrus’ own special bombs. Domes of crackling power and distorted air erupted across the platform, and Garas shuddered, roaring in some kind of pain as they engulfed him.

The dark knight braced, apparently ready to leap for the cruiser itself, but he suddenly dove off the hang-track as blaster-bolts rained down at his position from above. He ducked down to a landing, then looked up, and saw Tails flying past, carrying Sally in his arms as she fired down at him with twin pistols.

Tails shot down, letting Sally dive into a tight roll along the platform, and she came up shooting. The knight blurred and warped around her fusillade, and Garas started to pick himself up as the cruiser took a wide turn in the distance to make another pass. Tails flitted around the giant, firing at him with another pistol now this hands were free.

* * *

Across the churning sands, Mosif picked himself out of the rubble only to fly back under a concentrated stream of high-speed energy blasts and fire. Bunnie walked forward slowly, her right arm rattling with the power of the mechanically supported vulcan-cannon she was using to ram him back, while Dulcy hovered, flapping her wings, unleashing hell from her jaws with fierce focus.

Vespa came flying out of the sand beyond the facility, arcing just over the control tower as she saw Bunnie’s familiar shape. She was about to charge the rabbit when something rammed into her at super-sonic speed. She grunted, flying higher without her own control, and Sonic whirled out of his spin, landing to both feet and one hand before smirking up at her. “Aw, come on! Show me some of those fancy moves!”

With that, he spin-flipped off the control tower, and landed at full speed as Vespa tore after him with a shriek of fury, staining the sky pink in her wake.

Mosif finally ripped himself free, and unleashed a shock-wave of black-gray energy toward Bunnie and Dulcy as Sonic and Vespa tore off across the whirling sands in the heart of the facility. Dulcy rushed to one side, while Bunnie leapt back, augmented by her suit, and kept firing as the attack-wave dwindled down to nothing at her feet. Mosif leapt in for a fresh attack, but the rabbit stopped firing, dove to the side, rolled out of it, and opened fire smoothly just as he hit the deck again, forcing him toward the edge until he dug his hand into the metal directly, and started to crawl forward through her fire plate by plate.

* * *

Sally saw the knight twist his sword, and she twist-rolled to her right, still firing his way, as several of her earlier shots pinged across the ground where she had been crouching. She noted with relief that they wouldn’t necessarily have hit her, but it was too close for comfort.

The knight finally slipped up that moment. Distracted by Sally’s fire, he didn’t realize Sonic was charging up behind him from the sands. As a result, Sonic’s ball-blast ram slammed him straight into the deck, hard, denting the metal. Sonic himself unrolled, twisted, and landed back near his wife as Vespa tore over the edge of the platform after him.

The pink creature did so just in time to take a volley of blasts from the passing cruiser, ramming her off into a processing plant at the corner of the platform. Uncle Chuck smirked as he twisted about, letting Rotor drop more bombs to help Tails with Garas, and then burned toward the far side to give Bunnie some back-up against Mosif.

Undaunted, and seemingly not angry either, the knight flipped onto his feet, sword ready, and flitted toward the squirrel and hedgehog duo. Sonic blurred into him, but had to duck the sword, and Sally’s blaster-bolts finally hit the knight, only to ping off his armor like children’s pellets.

Forcing Sonic to dodge another swipe for good measure, the knight rushed toward Sally, and she back-peddled, firing with her blasters to try and slow him down. With a sudden blur, he was right in front of her, and Sally gasped, but still fired at him, trying to push herself away with her feet as she attacked with her hands, falling back. Sonic blurred in, crying out, and grabbed the knight’s wrists before he could bring the sword down. Sally froze her hands, terrified she would hit Sonic in the back.

Sonic and the knight wrestled for a moment as Sally hit the deck with her back. She dropped one of her pistols, which was already empty, and she snapped her special tagger out from her belt, aiming tight and fast. Just as she fired, the knight shoved Sonic back, and his sword twisted toward the path of the tiny disc-tag.

Sally bit off a curse, and shouted, “Sonic!”

Her husband flitted to her side, and burned off with her in his arms. Neither of them saw the knight’s sword _miss_ the disc, by millimeters, letting it rush in and stick to his armor just under a flank-plate.

Sonic brought Sally with him toward Garas, who was recovering from the last wave of bombs from the ship, and Tails’ constant pistol shots. Sally flipped out of Sonic’s arms, joining Tails’ effort, while Sonic rushed around behind the giant, and rammed up into his back to make him stumble. Garas roared as his neck and right shoulder took direct shots into their pivot points, and her shivered, obviously taking real damage this time.

“I’ll crush you all!” he roared, and lashed out, whirling at his waste, his fists flying out at full extension.

Tails jerked higher up into the air, and Sonic shot back, pulling Sally just out of reach of one, the squirrel woman paling as she felt the metal of one of the swinging fists cool her nose as it passed just in front of her.

When Sonic let her down, she breathed a quick, “Thanks,” and he just winked at her before shooting back in to the fray.

Garas finally shouted, “Shadix! Help!”

The knight struck again, Tails shouting in dismay as he flitted back, narrowly avoiding losing one of his namesakes before Shadix dove down Garas’ back, and forced Sonic to weave out suddenly, or be sliced down the middle.

* * *

Mosif roared as blasts from the ship knocked him to his left several steps, and Bunnie began to hop from point to point, firing the whole time, circling him in quick bursts, while Dulcy did so higher, in the opposite direction, firing off streams of power from her jaws. He unleashed ring-waves and direct blasts to try and finish them, but Bunnie leapt over the waves, and simply dodged the direct attacks like Dulcy, constantly whittling down his armor or shields together.

With Uncle Chuck forced to take another wide turn with the ship to come back, and Dulcy catching her breath, Bunnie was alone. Mosif suddenly snapped around wide, firing off twin bolts of energy from his fists.

Dulcy saw it first, crying out a warning, “Watch out!”

Bunnie was dodging from habit, and realized with a yelp that he had fired ahead of her as well. She ducked into a roll, barely passing under the attack unscathed. Rising up to one knee, she prepared to fire again, but saw Mosif smirking. His hand was down on the ground toward her, and a field of his energy was stretching out wide and high, creating a wall to her left. Dulcy started to rake fresh streams of fire down at him, but his other arm was creating a defense shield just around his body.

Opening fire, Bunnie started to run right.

“Where’s the metal one?”

Bunnie twisted, looking straight into Vespa’s cold, burning eyes. A cry died in Bunnie’s throat as Vespa batted the cannon out, twirled around, and round-housed Bunnie. The armor suit saved her life again, but she still flew across the platform like a rag doll, plowing clean through the remains of the tank-frames Mosif had hit, and skidding off to almost the far edge of the platform.

Dulcy’s face fell for her friend, but she instantly had to dodge a fresh blast from Mosif, keeping the pair of them locked in combat.

Adrenaline and fear made Bunnie pick herself up immediately, knowing Vespa would be on her instantly. And she was. Bearing down on the rabbit like a burning effigy, the pink, crystalline monster slammed down into the deck in front of Bunnie, warping the metal in a quick crater. Seething with her own power, Vespa slowly stood up, her eyes burning at the armored woman. “Where is he? I have a score to settle…”

Bunnie smirked, her cannon revving up as it aimed. “He ain’t got time ta dance with you, sugar. Can I leave ‘im a message for ya?”

Vespa screamed and shot forward as Bunnie opened fire.

* * *

“There, there!” Cathy shouted, hopping up and down happily at the Ring-Pool. She was perched up on the tree-trunk that rested partially in the water on one edge of the little pond.

Lita grinned, her eyes reflecting the golden glow as the water swirled rapidly, and let the golden Power Ring rise up into the air.

Cathy hopped down, grabbed Lita’s hands, and they whirled around together before Lita shot off, catching the ring in mid-air, landing on the far side of the pond before she stuffed it in the pack they’d brought for the purpose.

“Quick!” Cathy urged, and they both sprinted out of the clearing, across the fields of old Knothole, and back toward Mobotropolis.

They were twin streaks staining the air, ripping between trees, across water, then through the city, faster than any cars. They were inside the palace in record time, even compared to their father.

Dodging guards like practiced spies, they zipped from hall to hall, finally reaching their destination. Forced to sit up on her sister’s shoulders just to reach the controls properly, Cathy got the door open to Rotor’s workshop where Metic lay dormant. Scrambling over each other, they moved up to the bed… and then blinked.

“…So what do we do?” Lita asked first.

Cathy frowned, identically to her mother when tackling a puzzle. Then she smiled, and took the pack, clambering up onto the bed near Metic’s shoulder. “Maybe it just needs to touch him!” she declared happily, and pulled the glittering ring out, resting it on his torso.

They both watched… nothing.

Lita hopped up, and pulled the ring up, “Maybe he has to wear it! Like a crown or something!” She placed it neatly on his head, hooking one edge under his first blade-fin.

Again, they watched.

Both girls sighed, and then Cathy pulled the ring off his head, and hopped back down. “Papa said he just grabbed it, right?”

Lita hopped down with a rapid nod. “That’s right. So… get him to hold it?”

Agreed, they worked together. Fortunately, while inactive, Metic’s body was completely limp, and they were able to flex his left hand (the closest) open without too much trouble. Placing the ring’s edge in his palm, they both curled his fingers and thumb around it. One of the fingers fell loose from gravity, and Lita planted her hands on her hips. “This is stupid! It’s supposed to work now!”

Cathy waved at her to calm down. “We’re just not doing it right, that’s all. Mr. Metic wants to help us out, so we’re helping him. You saw how sad Aunt Bunnie--!?”

The optics flickered dimly. The name. What little power his body had left reacted to her name.

The hand clenched suddenly, little crackling arcs of gold light sparking off the ring.

Jerking with fright, the two girls backed away, hands to their mouths, worried something was going wrong. Lita stammered, “S-should we stop it? Before something really breaks?”

Cathy shook her head. “H-how?”

Abruptly, the fist snapped up, holding the tight, vertical on the bed. In a blazing rush, the ring became bright as a star, and the girls cried out, hiding their eyes. Inside Metic’s hand, the power flooded his systems, rushing up through his limb, filling the drained power-lines. It coursed deep into his core, and the old ring still glimmering with dying power in his torso suddenly blazed to life, absorbing the new, vibrant energy as its own.

Metic’s entire body erupted with white light, every diamond-glass panel, ridge, vent, and seam in his black and silver frame blazing with power. His body floated off the bed, his back arching as the ring vanished from his hand. His optics flared, glowing bright and clear.

He flickered upright, his optics locking on the two girls through the storming energies around his body… and his blade-fins roared, the girls huddling away, suddenly afraid.

And then the power vanished inside his body, and Metic dropped down to the ground, one knee and one hand planted firmly down, his head bowed. His optics reactivated, and he slowly stood up, flexing his hands, looking at them. _…Full charge._ His optics smiled, and he focused up on the girls. “Princesses… Do you think your old robotic uncle is going to harm you?”

There was warmth and astonishing gentleness in his synthetic voice this time, such that the two girls almost immediately relaxed, blinking up at him. They started to smile, and Lita asked, “Are you okay now, Mr. Metic?”

His optics still grinning, he knelt down in front of them, touching their shoulders. “I’m better than I’ve been in a long, long while. Did you two do this?”

They shared a meek smile and look, then nodded softly together.

He tipped his head. “Then I owe you both my life. …What on Mobius made you think that would work? Even my own data implies it has no direct connection.”

They shrugged, and Cathy said, “Why not?”

Metic chuckled, nodding. “Indeed… Very wise. Now… where is everyone?”

Lita shook her head. “We don’t know. Mama contacted us while we were… out, and said we should stay in our rooms.”

Metic raised an optic ridge. “So I see. Very naughty of you both.”

They pouted, melting at the idea of getting in trouble.

He tussled their hair and spines. “I’ll make sure your parents know you saved my life today. However, I think you should go do as your mother asked now, don’t you?”

They both nodded quickly. “Yes sir! Thank you, Mr. Metic.”

One optic winked at them, and they giggled before scurrying off. Metic rose up, closing one fist, letting power glow through the lines and tubing there. Satisfied, he rushed up through the palace, and used his clearance to enter the Queen’s throne-chamber, her office. The holo-screen was still active with the alert.

Metic’s optics absorbed it all in an instant. “Sandopolis…” He flickered, appearing out on the balcony, and looked up. His blade-fins roared, and he was engulfed in a sphere of flaring white power. “I’m coming, Bunnie.”

He coiled into a ball within the raging power, and rocketed into the sky, ripping toward the wastes.

* * *

Dulcy had landed, blasting ice or fire back at Mosif as he unleashed raging storms of his energy at her, both circling constantly, their powers colliding explosively between them. Sonic, Sally, and Tails were keeping Garas and Shadix perfectly busy, Sonic able to pester Garas while avoiding Shadix, letting Sally and Tails continue to pepper the giant with their weapons.

Vespa had Bunnie on the run, however. The armored woman could leap far and fast, but every time she got enough time to fire, Vespa was already on top of her again. Even when the cruiser passed overhead, Rotor, Antoine, and Uncle Chuck couldn’t afford to fire at Vespa without seriously hurting Bunnie.

“I’ll hold as long as I can, y’all, but this is getting’--!” she yelped, leaping away from a power blast, firing back, “tough!”

Sally’s eyes tightened as she touched her comm in her ear. _Bunnie…_ She didn’t waste breath asking for someone to help her. They were all occupied. Without Tails, Garas would focus on her and squish like a ripe fruit, without her, Tails would face a similar fate, especially with Shadix keeping Sonic on his toes right there with them. Dulcy was keeping Mosif off them all, and she already knew why the ship couldn’t help her friend. “We’ve got to force them to retreat! Fast!”

Bunnie rolled out of a dive, and whipped her cannon back with a growl, aiming over her shoulder, and unloading straight into Vespa’s face. Vespa’s back arched as her upper-body was rammed away by the onslaught, but she just pressed closer with her feet, and finally rammed the cannon aside, tackling Bunnie to the ground, clamping a hand around her neck.

“Where is he!? He’s the only one I want! He protects you!”

Choking, Bunnie struggled, trying to get her legs to wriggle into a good position to push the crystal woman off of her, her left arm grasping at the hand choking her, her right pinned with the cannon. She was starting to black out. “ _P-please… help…_ ”

No help was coming, her rational mind knew that. Overriding her fear, she grimaced, and then rammed her left fist down into the deck at her side, denting the metal. Vespa grinned down into her visor. “I’ll enjoy crushing the life out of you. I never liked rabbits. You’re all little sluts.”

Bunnie’s hand clamped around the edge of a deck-plate she had ruptured. “I… think yer… projectin’… sugar!” And she ripped the plate out of the deck, slamming it straight into Vespa’s head.

Vespa reeled, roaring in frustration, but it let Bunnie roll onto her feet, and open fire. Vespa stumbled back from the attack, and then flared her power, deflecting the rest of the projectiles as she started to close on Bunnie again.

A voice reached them both, warped by speed and distance. A voice Bunnie knew she couldn’t be hearing even as it came up behind her, her eyes widening with the start of tears.

“ _You were looking for me?_ ”

Vespa stared over Bunnie’s shoulder just before comet of white power shock-rammed her clear across the deck, ripping her out, driving her down into the sand, and doing so for nearly a kilometer in the blink of an eye, sand bursting into the sky with explosive violence along the path, parts of it fusing into glass.

The white comet shot back out, arced high, and flew down. The power melted away, revealing a whirling metal ball that Bunnie knew so well just before Metic slammed down to a landing, denting the platform under his unnaturally heavy body falling at such high speed. He rose up, optics bright, and she saw his smile in them. “M…Metic?”

“Sorry I scared you. I’ll explain when we have time. She’s not done just yet.”

Bunnie barely nodded before she saw Vespa ripping out of the sand in the distance, flying for Metic, screaming like a banshee the entire time. The robotic hedgehog just turned around, his blade-fins revving twice as his body glowed with power. “Let’s grind.”

Finally, Bunnie smirked, and revved her cannon up. “I’m with ya, sugar-bot.”

She got another wonderful smile in his optics over his shoulder. It was even better than before. He seemed alive, fresh, almost… young again? And he seemed easy with being near her, a friend again.

Vespa reached the platform, but she realized she was not fighting the same machine as before. He greeted her with a fist warping her face from the side. Before she could even fly off, he grabbed her ankle, whirled around like a top, ripping her head through the deck, a pylon, and then slammed her down so hard she fell through into the sand below, pulling a rush of metal supports down with her.

Now confident he could match her, Metic looked away from Vespa for a moment, focusing on Bunnie. “Help Dulcy drive Mosif off. We need to get them to retreat, as I heard the Queen say of the comm.”

She knew it was the right plan. He wasn’t pushing her away, he was just trying to get the job done. With a nod, she leapt across the wrecked tank-frames, and started to unload into Mosif again, Dulcy taking flight to take advantage of the support. Mosif was already starting to stumble back and away, shouting for support from his own comrades.

* * *

Metic whirled into a ball, and shot across the platform, diving into the churning sands in the processing basin. Vespa erupted after him, screaming, turning sand to glass in her wake. He unfolded, his legs a jittering blur beneath his body, and looked back at her as they began to rip around the spinning sands. “I see you’ve decided we’re enemies!”

She shouted back, “I thought computers were quick thinkers! Half-wit!”

“Actually,” his voice dropped to a deathly cold tone, “I was referring to your attack on Bunnie.” He halted in the sand, her speed bringing her right up to him in an instant. She tried to redirect, but his hand lifted out, clamped around her neck, and he slammed her down into the sand pulling them both down into it. “Attacking me is one thing. Putting your claws on her makes you my target, you glowing, prismatic, _beast_!”

He blurred around, and threw her _through_ the platform behind Sally, sending Vespa arcing out over the desert with a trail of flying metal and pipes in her wake.

Metic rushed up, and landed beside the Queen, who stared at him. “Metic!? How…?”

His optics smiled at her. “I’ll explain after we send them packing again, Sally.”

He used her name… Sally grinned, nodding.

Sonic blinked as Shadix was driven into the ground by Metic, who shouted, “Finish Garas!”

The knight and robot warped into a blurred mass of combat while Sonic started to burn-up and ram into Garas over and over, Tails and Sally’s firepower constantly weakening him. Garas finally howled stumbling toward the edge… when a volley from the ship rammed into him, tossing him down into the spinning sands, crying for help as he lacked the ability to free himself.

Sonic blurred over as Metic was sent flipping away from Shadix by a kick to the chin, and the two hedgehogs braced, ready to tackle him together.

“You’re late,” Sonic said with a smirk.

“Got here as fast as I could,” the robot answered dryly.

Shadix twirled his sword down into his sheath, crouched, and rocked up into the air. He dove into the pit, pulling Garas out. “Mosif! We are leaving!” he roared as he twisted back around to find Vespa out in the desert.

The Mobians watched as Mosif vanished into a red sphere of light, and Shadix carried the larger Garas off into the distance, where a pink streak joined him before they all vanished into a blink of red.

Metic cycled his respirator, and let his fins rev idly for a moment as he stood up, turning around to greet the others. Dulcy flew Bunnie over, and Uncle Chuck landed the shuttle just nearby.

“Metic! You’re alright!” Tails declared with happy shock.

The robot chuckled, scratching the back of his head nervously. “Yes, I have a full charge again. I’m sorry for worrying everyone.”

Even as Uncle Chuck, Rotor, and Antoine came running up, Bunnie walked right to the robot, her cannon locked on her back, her helmet deactivated, and she clamped her arms around him. Sally, the only person fully aware of the decision Bunnie had come to, was controlling tears at the reunion.

Metic himself let his optics shut off, and his arms came up, gently holding onto her. “…Are you injured?” he asked quietly. Sonic had simply been joking, but in his heart, Metic felt he had been far too late to come to their aid.

Bunnie sobbed and laughed at the same time, their friends watching with sympathy. “J-just my heart, sugar-bot. Don’t you ever do this ta me again!”

His brow creased. “Please, forgive me… I never intended to hurt any of you, but I had no way of recharging my power source…”

She eased back, kissing his metal cheek, and finally pulled away as his black metal reddened. “So how did you…? Or is it just a good ole miracle?”

Metic scratched his head anxiously again. “Actually… The Princesses did it.”

Sally and Sonic jerked. “Cathy and Lita!?” Sally squeaked. “Where are they!? Oh those little munchkins! I told them to--?”

Metic raised his hand to their mother gently. “Please, don’t be too hard on them. They went to old Knothole, and brought a power ring back.”

Everyone was astonished. Uncle Chuck immediately pointing out, “But that shouldn’t have done any good… I don’t understand.”

Metic shook his head. “Nor do I, Sir Charles. There’s no direct reason it should have recharged my original power-ring by using another. My systems were never designed for it… they just tried it anyway.”

Sir Charles wiped a hand down his face. “All this, and if I’d just tried something, it would have been over and done with… I’m so sorry, everyone.”

Everyone was quick to tell him not to be, Rotor especially saying, “It wasn’t anybody’s fault, Uncle Chuck, but I think we’re all real glad Metic’s okay again.”

Dulcy added, “Definitely! You really helped protect my home, Metic. Thank you so much!”

The robotic hedgehog blushed anew. “I was happy to help, Dulcy, but I… I would be dishonest if I claimed that was my whole reason for doing what I did at the spire.”

Several of them shared amused looks, and Dulcy herself just winked. “Don’t worry ‘bout a thing…”

Bunnie then looked to Sally, the two sharing a meaningful smile before the rabbit asked, “So, Sal, did that tracker stick?”

Sally shrugged. “I doubt it, but maybe I got a lucky shot after all.” Inspired by Metic’s story, she picked Nicole off her boot. “Nicole, do we have a signal from the tracking bug?”

After a few seconds, the AI replied, “Confirmed, Sally. Though somehow muffled by a type of energy interference, the signal is still strong, and indicates an origin deep in the heart of the wasteland.”

Sonic grinned. “We got ‘em.”

Sally nodded. “That we do. However, we need to get these poor workers to safety, and then I think we all need a chance to rest before we chase them down.”

No one disagreed. As they all moved to get onto the ship to start organizing transport for the workers, Bunnie lingered a little so she could walk in with Metic. Her eyes sparkled beautifully as she looked at him, and the robot gave her a gentle smile with his optics. “I am glad you are safe.”

She giggled. “I know ya are, sugar…” She lightly leaned against him, one arm about his shoulders. It made him awkward, but he didn’t freeze up. She grinned at him, just patting his shoulder. “Welcome back, Metic.”

He laughed softly. “Thank you, Bunnie.”


	5. Crystal Palace Zone

It took most of the day to get the injured and isolated workers off the ruined facility, on top of Sally having to handle some political messes regarding the company that owned the place seeking disaster aid from the government. It was a long day by any standard, but by evening, the tired heroes could finally relax. Sally and Sonic, of course, before doing anything else after the fight, had rushed to their daughters. Sally was stern over them leaving on their own, but since they had saved Metic, quite literally, she just told them to make sure they didn’t go off alone again. They then all went out to get ice-cream. Sally and Sonic were too relieved to be together with their children to punish them after the fight anyway.

When it seemed everyone was settling down for the night after relaxing together, Metic made his way through the palace, really just walking as he thought about what was happening. He stumbled on to a little treasure of the palace by complete accident, but, despite being a robot, his emotions gave him a soft urge to take advantage of the discovery.

It was a little hydroponic garden, designed beautifully to seem wholly natural save for the windows and ceiling overhead. The starry night poured through the windows, and gave the garden-room a lovely, silver glow as he stepped into it. Off to one side was a little pond, glistening peacefully amidst the small trees and vegetable patches. There were even flowers and some grass along the ground.

Metic eased across the space, and found a pair of benches near the pond. He sat down on one, leaning on his knees with his elbows as his optics tracked the wave-patterns in the small pond.

Having a full charge again had affected him unexpectedly. He had his life back, plenty of time to live… Seeing Bunnie again, after believing he was dead, had brought him… joy? Was that this emotion? To see her smile, to be embraced by her with such sincere affection and love, it was why he fought so hard to protect the world with their friends.

He looked down at his hands, his optics tightening. He wasn’t dying, but that had only been part of what made him pull away. He adored her, he would do anything to help her stay happy, to let her smile as freely as she could, but he remembered all too well what she had said years ago, when they were still ‘enemies’, when she was still stuck with robotic limbs. The pain beneath her fury as she had told him she would never have warmth because of her limbs had driven into his core like nothing else could. How could he even consider drawing her close with a body that could only ever be cold, hard, and cruel?

And then the fear that haunted him. He turned his optics off and clenched his hands tightly. Just a moment’s miscalculation, a split-second of too much pressure, and he could kill her, or wound her terribly for the rest of her life. He could almost hear her scream or pained gasp… No, that wasn’t right. He _remembered_ her scream. That part of him was damaged, nearly erased, but he still had it… the programming that Robotnik gave him, the memories of being the ‘Metal Sonic’ that nearly doomed Bunnie to an eternity of robotic limbs… by tearing her original ones off.

That scream had meant nothing to him at the time, but now… that memory warped his systems and made him want to shut down, just so he wouldn’t hear it again.

Metic was too lost in his own nightmares that moment to realize he wasn’t alone in the garden anymore. In a set of comfortable, casual clothes, Bunnie was at the doorway, her hand resting against one side as her beautiful green eyes focused on him with gentle empathy. His own pain was so obvious that moment, with how he was almost curled up, on the verge of trembling. It was moments like this, when his mechanical body still seemed so _real_ , so Mobian, that she knew without doubt he _was_ real. He wasn’t just a complicated program or a trick, he was a man whose heart was breaking, and he didn’t know how to stop it.

She eased forward, silent as a ghost, and drifted up to the bench just near his own, easing down onto the edge facing him. “…Darlin’?”

Her voice was low and gentle, but he still gave a start, his optics flaring, even his blade-fins stuttering a faint spin as he stared at her. Bunnie cringed, guilty for startling him so badly. “Sorry, sugar…”

Metic shook his head. “N-no… it’s quite alright. I… I thought you had gone to sleep. I apologize.”

She giggled a little. “Apologize for what?”

“I didn’t mean to appear like I was… hiding again. I just went for a walk… found this place,” he looked out as he mentioned the garden.

Bunnie pouted gently at him. He was trying so hard to make her feel better without telling her what he wanted… “Darlin’, yer fine. I jus’ came lookin’ for ya, and I got lucky.”

He looked back into her eyes, and nodded gently. She could tell he was sincerely relieved she was not offended.

All too aware of how close she came to losing him forever, Bunnie was determined not to waste another breath between them. Calm and determined, she began, “Metic, I think you and I need ta talk…”

His head pulled back slightly, and he seemed a bit confused. “…As you wish, Bunnie.”

Bunnie smiled softly at him, and she saw how it affected him. He probably didn’t dare assume the true feelings behind her eyes, but he always cherished her smile. “Darlin’… is there anythin’ you want ta say ta me? I won’t get angry or upset, I jus’ want you ta tell me what’s weighin’ ya down so hard.”

Metic tensed fractionally. Now that she was confident, she could see it. The longing, and the fear. His optics were swimming with both. “I-I… am…” he looked down, “terribly sorry for anything I have done that has hurt you, Bunnie.”

She had to smile at his attempted escape. “Anythin’ like that is behind us, sugar. I forgive you, if ya jus’ need ta hear me say it. Is that all yer gonna tell me, though?” She deliberately let her disappointment come through this time. It mattered to her, she wanted him to say it for himself, to admit it for his own good.

It was working, too. He was almost shaking again, his hands gripping his own knees tightly. She was so kind, her smile so beautiful, her eyes… so caring. All of the fantasies and wants in his systems swirled around, clawing at his insides to be let out, but no, he couldn’t. If he let them out, she would see what he wanted, how selfish he was, how cruel he was to want her to want him when he was cold and hard, like the limbs she hated so much. His optics shut-off, and he bowed his head low.

“Say it…”

He stared up at her. Bunnie was gently sorrowful, and her voice had been a pleading whisper.

“Jus’ say it, sugar-bot… Please?”

Did she really know already? She was so intelligent, it was possible, and he had been so obvious with his need to protect her… but… she didn’t despise him. She couldn’t know yet. Yet if he said nothing, if he said a lie, it would hurt her, he saw that now. It was pouring through her eyes… she needed to hear him say the truth.

His head bowed again, but his voice touched the air, defeated, but honest. “…I love you.”

Tears in her eyes, Bunnie leaned over just enough to reach out, and tip his chin up. It startled him softly, but his optics were transfixed by her adoring smile the next instant. “Why are ya so frightened by yourself, darlin’?”

She still… He hadn’t ruined everything. The relief almost made him collapse. If that did not make her hate him, he could tell her the truth. Yes, the pain that he would never be close to her would linger, but this relief was his greatest treasure. He could still be at her side in some way, still help her without her anger rising up. So he answered, “I knew I was losing too much power, and would shut-down soon. You cared for me, and I did not wish for you to hurt like that, nor any of the others. But also… I know how terrible it would be for me to ask you close… and how easily I could hurt you… I must never hurt you again,” he shook his head firmly, looking at the grass near his feet.

Bunnie tilted her head, sincerely lost. “Sugar… what are you goin’ on about? What’s so terrible about you askin’ me to come closer? When have you hurt me as bad as yer sayin’?”

He looked back into her eyes, and she saw the calm certainty in his sorrow before he answered her like an obedient student. “I remember, Bunnie. I remember, in Knothole, what you said. How terrible your pain was that you would never feel warmth with your mechanical limbs, that your children couldn’t be embraced by you and feel softness.”

Her eyes widened at what he was saying, the poor woman sincerely shocked to realize what had been haunting him like this. She had been furious at the time, blinded with rage, and vented it all in his face because she could. In her mind, it was focused on _her_ mechanical parts, no one else’s. It simply didn’t occur to her that he would take what she said… like this.

Metic continued, “I remember your scream.”

Her eyes tightened in confusion before he explained.

“I remember when I cut your robotic limbs off during that battle. I remember your scream, how much pain I gave you, how terribly I hurt you. That threat is still in me. I could…” he looked down at his own hands with fear and anger in his optics, “I could hurt you, even kill you…” He raised his optics to her eyes before she asked him to again. “I can’t ask you to embrace hard, cold metal, and I can’t risk hurting you the way I did. I am so grateful for your kindness… You have every right to despise me for wanting such things from you, despite all you have told me.”

Bunnie’s mouth was agape as tears trickled from her eyes. It was the most strange, shocking ache she had ever felt in her heart. She’d had no idea he blamed himself for these things, or that he felt she would hate him just for being like she was. At the same time, she couldn’t blame him for the mistake. Now that he’d told her, it was so obvious why he felt the way he did based on what she had done, what had happened. “Aw… Metic, darlin’, yer bein’ way too hard on yourself. My stars, sugar, you weren’t even the same person back when you… well it wasn’t even really you that cut off my legs! My arm… And yer the one that gave ‘em back to me! Yer the one that gave me a chance to have my own body back!” she started to smile again at last, holding her two hands out in front of him, just to let him see them.

How strange that her kindness, already so much more than he’d already adored her for, would torture him so. He had to shut his optics off and look away. “I could still--!?”

Her hands pulled his head up, and he saw her determined eyes. “No! Ya couldn’t! Darlin’, come on!” she almost laughed. “You’ve fought through hell and thunder just to protect me! Ya nearly killed yourself ta protect me jus’ a couple a-days ago! Metic… you would never hurt me… I know that in my heart. I’ve known it fer years already…” she gently shook her head at the simple idea as she declared her trust to him.

Even so, she could see the conflict ripping through him, his optics shivering. He slowly managed to speak, “…I …hope I would never hurt you, Bunnie, but even if that is true, I am still cold, I am still… made of metal. You deserve the warmth you cherish so much. Your happiness makes my life complete. I can not ask you, even if you would contemplate it, to give up warmth for me…”

Bunnie put her hands on his shoulders, gently emphatic, “Metic… what I said back then…” She shook her head, and started over, “There’s more ta that warmth than jus’ what skin and fur feels, darlin’…”

His optics tightened, confused, but listening.

Smiling, she reached in, and caressed his cheek, as cold and hard as it was. She watched his optics flicker off, his neck clicking as he tilted his head to her touch. It was the appreciation, the gentle savoring of her touch she had always wanted from the man she loved. And it was absolutely sincere from this ‘robot’.

He had admitted it all to her. Now it was her turn. Still smiling, but with deep emotion glistening in her beautiful eyes, she said, “I love you, too, darlin’…”

Metic’s respirator clicked with his mechanical gasp, his optics flaring, staring at her with rigid, deep, soul-shaking shock. Bunnie cringed a bit at the extremity of his shock, how much it caught him off-guard. It was the greatest proof of how desperately afraid he was, how honest his confession had really been. He almost couldn’t comprehend what she had just said.

Dropping her hand back to his shoulder, she relaxed into a smile, the meaning still in her eyes. “You’ve stood by me like no one else, sugar. I watched ya do it, startin’ ta ache more and more each time, realizin’ what it meant. I’ve been so awful ta you, Metic. I said I was yer friend, but I was jus’ like anyone, thinkin’ you were a robot, that it was jus’ yer way. No,” she gently shook her head. “I’ve never seen anyone fight so hard for someone they love, Metic. Yer more ‘an I dreamed in the man who would love me. Aw, darlin’,” she almost wept as she caressed his cheek again, “jus’ because yer not soft ta the touch doesn’t mean ya don’t deserve yer part a-happiness.”

He would have been weeping if he had real eyes, and they both knew it. For her to say such things, with such sincerity, touching him with such tender affection… it was more than his own dreams. His foolish fantasies had been cheap, hollow images compared to the love this woman was showing him. He had never felt such deep _joy_ and ached so much at the same time. She would do it, he could see that. She would sacrifice her love of warmth to return his declaration of devotion.

And what monster could accept that sacrifice from her?

Controlling his overpowering emotions with all he could muster, Metic reached up, and gently pulled her hand down with both of his, knowing how cold his had to be. “Bunnie… I could never ask for more than what you have just said to me… Please do not think I don’t see that you have put your heart in my hands, trusting I will not crush it… but how can I keep your heart like this?” The pain was bleeding through his optics now, the honest necessity of ripping his own heart out to make sure she didn’t destroy hers. “I love you, yes, with all that I am, and so how can I take away the part of warmth than any child, any woman, any creature should expect from love? Your perfect hands should never have to touch metal with affection…”

Bunnie had to just admire him that moment. He felt more than most men could fathom, and he was the one ripping himself open just to protect her heart. The heart she had offered, all of his dreams, honestly put out for him to simply accept, and he was instead using everything in him, for she could see it was everything in him, to gently push them back… without offending her for returning a gift.

It was a cruel world that would trap this man in a body that would make his honor and his love demand he refuse what he wanted most, cherished most in all the world. It was like Robotnik was reaching out of the grave to ruin one more life.

She wouldn’t let that happen.

Focused, sincere, but also firm this time, Bunnie held his hands with both of hers, drawing his optics to her eyes directly. Once she gained his full attention again, she smiled, and said, “We’ll figure somethin’ out…”

Metic’s face slackened along all of its points of articulation. She meant it, with all of her own focus and strength, she… wanted him. “B-Bunnie… h-how can I--!?”

Her lips were against his faceplate, her eyes closed. His glowing optics were wide with the deepest shock, then pained ache… and then blissful release shut them off, his head tilting gently with the soft pressure of her lips, letting her kiss him more comfortably. If only he had lips of his own to return it, eyes to weep. He could never have asked for such a gift, she could only give it.

…Her hands reached up, gently holding his faceplate on either side. She wouldn’t end the kiss yet. Metic reached up in response, careful, painstakingly so. If he hurt her, even slightly, he would tear his own hands off. Not in this perfect moment, he couldn’t let her be hurt now. His hands rose up through her arms, and his cold fingers gently cupped around her neck and the back of her head.

Bunnie’s eyes opened as a deep surprise thrilled through her core. His hands… yes, they were cold, and hard, but the way they held her, the way they lingered on her fur like whispers, was exactly the way she wanted to be touched.

Silently weeping herself, she stretched her arms to wrap around him, holding her kiss with heartfelt appreciation for him, for how he cherished her. For Metic, he had never sensed such bliss as her embrace in this moment, begging only that he did not ruin it as his back arched to let her be as comfortable as she could be. And she was relaxed… her ears had sunk down over his own head the more his fingers gently caressed her fur.

With a steadying breath to calm her ecstatic emotions, Bunnie eased way from him, and felt Metic unravel his hands to let her retreat without resistance, his optics flickering on, focusing on her eyes with fear that he had made any mistake, and almost childish gratitude for the gift she had just given him.

Bunnie smiled brightly, and pulled his hands up between them with hers. “…These said all the right things, Metic,” she told him, almost playfully. “I won’t play with you, pretend we can jus’ act like there’s nothing different about us, but we’ll figure it out, darlin’… we will.”

“…You know I would never have asked this of you?” His voice was quiet and pleading, the last layer of his fear rising up.

She grinned, patting his cheek. “You’ve never lied ta me, sugar. I know ya meant what ya said. I had ta reach out ta you… or I’d be the one lyin’.”

At last, the tension left his frame, and he just tilted his head into her hand, one of his coming up to hold it there. His touch was as tender as any she could have asked, treating her hand like the most precious treasure… because, to him, it was.

“You could charm a wolf out a-her cubs, darlin’…” Bunnie said with a soft laugh.

He ducked his head with a meek smile in his optics, releasing her hand. “Bunnie…?” he asked, more serious, so sincere.

“Yeah, Metic?” she asked back gently, glowing.

“…Thank you.”

She pulled him up to his feet, and wrapped her arms around him. And this time, he returned it, close and affectionate. It was a little uncomfortable for her, but it meant so much that he had finally trusted her enough to embrace her. She smiled. “And thank you, sugar-bot.”

* * *

Sally gently rested Cathy down in her bed, the girl completely asleep. Sonic was doing the same for young Lita just across from them, and the two parents wrapped their daughters up in their blankets snug and warm, each kissing each girl’s head before they eased back. Sonic looked at his wife with a bright, if tired smile, and she returned it, coming to him, and wrapping her arms around him. They shared a soft, loving kiss, and then looked into each other’s eyes for a moment. With their daughters sleeping, they didn’t want to speak, but their eyes said all they needed to know to each other.

Still embraced, they looked over their daughters, Sonic rubbing Sally’s back softly. This was why they fought, why Sally ruled Mobius, why Sonic ran as fast as he could. These two girls had completely rearranged their lives… and made them so much better. Savoring the view of their daughters safe and sleeping so serenely, the Queen of Mobius and her beloved stepped out of the bedroom together.

“Our little angels,” Sally whispered after closing the door.

“Yeah,” Sonic agreed, patting her hair like a little boy himself, “they get it from their mom.”

She flushed, giggling softly at his childish charm.

Linking arms, they started off for their bed at last. It was just down the hall. Sally was amused at how fondly she remembered being able to hear the girls crying as babies without a comm-link to their room. They were growing up so fast…

The pair glanced back together when the lift door opened, Sally blinking in gentle surprise at seeing Bunnie tip-toeing onto the hall’s padded floor. When she realized she had been spotted, the rabbit woman gave an adorable grin, controlling a blush, and waved at them.

“…I’ll be right there, let me just talk with Bunnie for a moment?” Sally asked her husband.

He winked, gave Bunnie a wave of his own, and walked off to the bedroom. He did that more often these days… walking.

Bunnie realized Sally was coming toward her instead of continuing on, and she giggled softly, moving to join the squirrel woman. “Sorry about that, Sally-girl,” she whispered, still blushing for some reason. “I thought y’all were fast asleep already!”

They hugged, and Sally explained, “We wanted to spend a little extra time with the girls tonight, so we ran a little late ourselves.” Seeing the almost giddy glint in her friend’s eyes, Sally smiled, her eyes tightening with a mingled knowing curiosity. “Bunnie… you’re blushing like I just stumbled on you in the shower…”

Bunnie’s ears twitched, and she cleared her throat, trying to laugh it off without being too loud, scratching the back of her head. “J-jus’ feelin’ silly fer stumblin’ in on y’all. Tryin’ ta get off ta sleep before tomorra and all that.”

“Bunnie,” Sally drew it out teasingly, her hands holding the rabbit’s arms. “What’s going on?”

A more sincere, bashful smile came across Bunnie’s lips, her head ducking down a bit. Sally had never seen the boisterous woman become so shy. “N-nothin’ much, really. Jus’… had a talk with Metic at last.”

Sally’s face lit up. “Did he finally tell you what’s been bothering him? Did… you tell him what you realized?” she checked much more gently, tipping her head down.

Her blush getting worse, her manner remaining meek, Bunnie nodded gently. “All of it…”

It was clear Bunnie was pleased, but Sally had never seen her friend behave… quite this way. “M… May I ask what… you two decided?”

With Sally’s hands finally letting go of her arms, Bunnie shyly rubbed one arm as she answered, “He… admitted how much he likes me, and I told ‘im how much I like ‘im, and… we… kissed.”

Her friend blinked, the squirrel blushing softly herself. “K…Kissed?” She desperately hoped it didn’t sound rude. She was simply astonished, and a little bewildered at… how?

Bunnie understood fully what Sally’s rather adorably quizzical expression meant. With a slightly dry turn to her smile, the rabbit explained, “Well, alright, I did most of the kissin’, but he…” she looked side with a soft, deeply happy smile, “he responded the right way.”

Sally started smile. It was so clear how pleased Bunnie was, how touched and grateful she was for Metic’s actions, whatever they were, that very moment. It was so sincere, and so beautiful. Bunnie seemed truly happy. “…I’m so happy for you both, Bunnie.”

A kind smile lit the rabbit’s face afresh. “Thank you, Sally-girl. I know you’re still worried about… us, but we’re not divin’ in like kids. We just… both want to try our best.” She offered a new hug.

Sally wrapped Bunnie up in her arms tightly, whispering, “So long as you’re happy, I couldn’t wish better for you.”

They were both tearing up a little. “Thank you, Sally-girl,” Bunnie repeated softly, her voice a little tight.

Playfully maternal, Sally replied, “Now get some sleep.”

They shared a soft laugh, mindful of the sleeping children (Bunnie knew where they slept), and shared sisterly kisses on their cheeks before parting for the night.

Sally stepped into the bedroom to see Sonic already in bed, waiting for her with that boyish, loving smile of his. She giggled at him, winking, and went to get ready for bed in the washroom.

When she finally joined him, the pair taking a moment to cuddle after such a dangerous day, Sally looked off with a wistful smile. “…Guess what?”

Sonic smirked at her choice of words. She did that a little more these days, playing on his own childish manner for herself. “What?”

“Bunnie and Metic are basically together…”

“You’re kiddin’!?”

Sally laughed, shaking her head. “I just heard from Bunnie. They finally settled all that silly tension poor Metic had around her. Apparently they even kissed.”

Sonic shook his head, grinning at the idea. “Who’da thunk it…”

Sally lightly swatted him. “You should have seen her glow. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Bunnie so happy.”

“Well it’s about flippin’ time. That woman has been through enough,” Sonic said with surprising vigor in his quiet voice as he mimicked his wife in settling down to actually sleep.

“Oh, isn’t that the truth?” Sally breathed in sympathy. “Sonic…?”

“Yeah, hon?”

She loved it when he called her that. It was so… sweet and affectionate at the same time. And he’d heard the concern in her voice, his own tone gentle and sincere, attentive. Something was on her mind, though, so she looked at him seriously across their pillows. “Can I tell you something I’m worried about, and ask you to keep it completely private? I mean from everyone? I… I just need to say it.”

Sonic turned toward her, wrapping his arm around her to be close, his voice a warm whisper at her cheek. “Of course, Sal. Tell me…”

“I… I’m really afraid they’re going to get hurt.”

“Bunnie and Metic?”

She nodded softly against his cheek, so grateful for his warmth against the little worry nagging so painfully at her heart for her friend. “I don’t doubt their love. Not after seeing what they’ve done, seeing that look in Bunnie’s eyes just now, but… Sonic, he would give her the stars if he could, but Metic can’t…”

Sonic exhaled with a quieted grunt of realization. “He can’t cuddle?” He smirked as he mentioned their own state that very moment.

Sally had to giggle a bit, but nodded with her worry. “He treasures her, he respects her, and she returns it all, but I… This,” she pressed her hand to his heart, “this is so important to me, Sonic. These moments we can share. They… They can’t do this. Not in the same way.”

Her husband held her hand to his heart, and kissed her forehead, stroking her hair with his other hand. “…If they run into trouble, we’ll just have to be there for ‘em both, Sal. What else can we do if we’re friends?”

Though still worried, his point echoed her own thoughts. She nodded softly, then nuzzled his neck. “I love you, Sonic… Please, be careful tomorrow.”

His hand cupped her neck. “Just so long as you are too, Sal. I love you…”

She made a little sigh of appreciation, and kissed him. That night, they fell asleep in each other’s arms, just like they had back at Knothole, so comfortable in each other’s warmth.

* * *

Back in her combat gear, with the girls safely in their room (she made sure with her own two eyes this time), Sally Acorn settled into the pilot’s seat of Uncle Chuck’s cruiser yet again. Rotor, Uncle Chuck himself, and Tails manned the other consoles. Antoine and Dulcy were down in the cargo bay, as it was the only space inside the cruiser Dulcy could fit with any ability to be comfortable, and Antoine politely volunteered to keep her company (since he wouldn’t have to see anything that blew them out of the sky in the cargo hold). Sonic, Bunnie in her armor suit, and Metic himself sat in the passenger seats along the back, side walls of the bridge.

“Nicole,” Sally started, “patch into the ship’s navigation system. Let’s map this out and get it done right.”

“Yes, Sally,” the monotone, but welcome voice of the AI computer replied as the Queen locked the little device into the console of the cruiser.

With holomaps forming around her, Sally and the crew got the ship ready. A hangar opened on the side of the Mobian palace, and the cruiser flew out with smooth grace, speeding toward the wastelands.

Bunnie, though her helmet was closed around her head, turned to look at Metic, and his optics softened into a gentle smile for her. Returning it, she reached over, gripping his hand with one of hers. His optics shut off, and she could see how much he appreciated the simple contact.

Sonic saw it sidelong, but aside from a knowing smile, he just looked ahead again. “Unc, this cruiser of yours is pretty darn fast.”

The elder hedgehog chuckled. “Well I designed ‘er to keep up with you, if she had to, Sonny. Not sure about that, of course, but she shouldn’t fall too far behind in a race, either.”

They shared a grin.

There was a simple reason the group had not enlisted the aid of military or police forces for this mission. Sonic and Metic were the only two people on Mobius who could really stand toe-to-toe with these strange, crystalline aliens, and their weapons could tear anything Mobian to pieces in a matter of seconds. If anyone _could_ pull it off, it was going to be this small group of ex-freedom fighters. Tails himself was a young man, Sally reminded herself, and she had seen for herself how good a shot he was with the pistols he now kept on his person almost at all times since the start of the attacks.

Thinking of her daughters, Sally felt a knot tighten in her stomach at what Tails’ parents were going through. Did he tell them…? Surely he had… If Cathy or Lita ever pulled something like this without telling her… Sally swallowed a lump in her throat, and refocused on the task at hand. They had a tough time ahead of them, she couldn’t let her mind wander…

* * *

“Great shades of Mobius…” Sir Charles breathed out, staring through the viewport.

Sally did her best to stay focused on flying the craft, but she couldn’t help joining the group as a whole in staring at what was rising up in front of them in the heart of the wastes.

A shimmering tower of white crystal soared over the vast desert from a cliff-face, jagged, faceted surfaces running into each other, shooting out in giant spines. It was taller than the palace, but narrow and sharp, with immense discharges of raw energy crackling up and down its surface, skittering across the sky as well.

Rotor pointed as a series of waving shimmers down the front of the structure. “Sally! Watch out!”

The squirrel snapped her eyes to it, and yelped, wrenching the ship into a diving barrel-roll as a light-storm of energy lanced through the air, nearly incinerating them that very moment.

Only the four of them at stations were strapped down. The mad twist sent Sonic, Metic, and Bunnie to the walls, each of them clamping onto something instantly, Bunnie doing so for herself before Metic could even try to reach for her. In the hold, Dulcy snapped herself open, her tail, head, and arms hitting different surfaces as Antoine landed in her pouch with a scream and an ‘oof!’. She smirked at him as he peeked out at her anxiously.

Sally held control of the ship, and made it sweep back up, ripping along the ground, juking from side to side to avoid jagged pillars of rock and more lancing storms of volatile energy from the crystal spire itself. “Nicole! Find me an entrance!”

Fresh scans created a holo-image of the crystal palace rapidly, and Nicole spoke as the view zoomed down to the base of the tower, at the front. “There is an ingress opening at the base of the spire. It measures ten meters wide, but only four tall. The cruiser can not fit inside.”

“Sir Charles!?” Sally called urgently. It was his ship, she had to check with him.

“It’s just a machine, your majesty. Let’s get this job done.”

She nodded. “Sonic, Metic! Get everyone back there with Dulcy and Antoine. We have to be able to get out of this thing the moment it stops! Sonic, you’re my exit!” she called back as she pulled Nicole off the console and tucked her into her vest.

“Sal, I can pilot it to--!”

“No, Sonic! You’re fast enough, just do this for me, please!”

He didn’t press it again, Metic already flickering back and forth to get Tails, Rotor, and Uncle Chuck into the hold. Sonic got hold of Bunnie, and raced her back there. Dulcy, once she understood the plan, immediately helped Rotor into her pouch with Antoine, and got Sir Charles, Tails, and Bunnie onto her back, digging her claws into the flooring so Sally could maneuver without throwing her into a wall.

Metic remained with them, energy crackling along his body. Bunnie knew by the stance he had taken he was prepared to blow the cargo-door clean off its hinges in an instant so they could get out.

Sonic rushed back to the bridge. “We’re ready, Sal!”

The Queen nodded firmly, whipping between a storm of attacks from the spire, and a loop of stone. A wing scraped one side of the ring, but the ship held after a frightening shake. The spire was rushing up, and then Sally rammed all of the air-foils and reverse thrusters to full as she swerved the ship to further decelerate its forward motion.

Even Metic had to strain not to fly off the floor at the sudden rush of g-forces. Dulcy groaned, but held her position as well, Bunnie securing Uncle Chuck and Tails with one of her enhanced, armored arms.

Then the cruiser shook violently as the landing gears hit the ground, the ship skidding all the way to the base of the spire. The second it stopped moving, Sonic blurred around Sally, popping the restrains off of her, and rushed to the cargo hold. Metic rammed out through the doors, Dulcy flying out, Sonic blurring through, and they all swerved into the arched opening at the base of the spire…

Just as a rain of white fire obliterated the shuttle behind them in an explosive rush.

“I’m sorry, Sir Charles,” Sally said sincerely, just loud enough to be heard over the roar of the wind around them all.

He winked down at her. “It got us here, Sally! I’ll make another one for each of us!”

She grinned, relieved at his sincere understanding. Good ole Uncle Chuck…

Metic skidded to a halt, Sonic easing a little longer for Sally’s sake, and Dulcy very smoothly landed behind them. Since the fall of Robotnik, the dragoness had become a master of flight. She helped Rotor and Antoine out, Bunnie climbing down off her back with Uncle Chuck and Tails.

They were standing at the bottom of a huge chamber, roughly spherical in design, the crystalline walls interrupted by metal platforms and walkways. Burning bright in the center, floating flawlessly, was a massive swirling sphere of white energy, crackling and burning, surrounded by spinning rings in concentric size, the largest almost touching the walls it rushed past with roaring sweeps.

Metic quickly analyzed the chamber with his optics. “I can not identify the energy type, but space-time anomalies are rampant near the energy sphere.” He pointed up to the left, to an arched opening over a landing with a crystal balustrade protecting it from the rushing rings around the sphere. A path led up to it from just behind to their left. “That leads up higher into the spire.”

“Somewhere the lot of you will not be going,” Mosif’s voice rang out.

Everyone braced, Bunnie snapping her cannon out with her right arm.

All four of the crystalline warriors floated down from the opposite side. Mosif landed to a crouch behind Shadix, Garas thumping down on the opposite side, with Vespa grinning viciously at Metic from Mosif’s other side, further back.

Sally eyed the glowing sphere above them all. “Space time anomalies, crystalline structures, highly concentrated, difficult to analyze energies…” She looked out at Shadix, the dark knight, and pointed firmly at him. “You’re all from the Void!”

The three behind the knight chuckled or laughed (the latter Vespa in particular). Shadix remained darkly calm. “I would have thought you estimated that much sooner, Queen Acorn. Mobius’ future is grim indeed, if her Queen is only just now understanding her enemy.”

Sir Charles sighed, “Of course… Yes, we should have seen it sooner. You’re all magical constructs. But why all of the theft attempts? Surely you have more than enough power to do whatever it is you’re trying to do without bringing such attention to yourself?”

Shadix drew his sword slowly, letting it burn in the air. “Our power is not enough. We needed to amplify it. We are simply the four messengers. It is easier to send us here than for our master to come himself.”

The former freedom fighters were grim, Sonic the one who said the obvious out loud from his sheer frustration and anger. “Naugus… The lot of you are working for that idiot wizard!”

Mosif roared, “No one insults master that way!”

Shadix snapped his sword out to the side, halting Mosif from charging forward blindly. “And the process is almost complete. You stand in the portal nexus, our entrance to your world. In the upper spire is the true portal, the one that will bring our master to this world again, and usher in his era of rule.”

“So Naugus found a way to stop the crystallization after long-term void-exposure, he just needs a portal powerful enough to get himself out?” Rotor asked tensely.

“Looks like it,” Sir Charles answered quietly.

“As such,” Shadix began again, twirling his sword forward, pointing at Sonic. “We can not allow you to interfere any further. Prepare yourselves, Mobians.”

“I’ve got the knight,” Sonic said tensely.

“I’ll handle Vespa, since she’ll hunt me anyway,” Metic replied.

Sally nodded, “And we’ll keep the others busy. Dulcy, Bunnie, you’re our main firepower out here.”

“You know it, Sally-girl.”

“Just give me a clear shot,” Dulcy added with grim humor in her smile.

Tails pulled his pistols, Sir Charles, Rotor, and Antoine doing similarly.

Shadix and Vespa flickered, Sonic and Metic doing the same to meet them, the four colliding and whirling around each other in the center of the room. Garas and Mosif charged ahead, shaking the floor with their steps as Dulcy took flight and Bunnie strafed to her right, the others opening fire with their guns.

Garas immediately swung out with both fists elongating off his arms in violent, whipping motions. Dulcy flew high over his attacks, the others scattering to the ground, firing back at him. Dulcy quickly landed just behind and to the giant’s right, blasting a freezing breath across his feet, sticking him there. She then whipped around, and shattered the ice with her tail, tripping him flat.

Bunnie’s hail of fire scattered over Mosif’s summoned shield, and he charged for her, building energy in his free fist. Bunnie let him fire, diving back to the left, and rolled up, opening up another fusillade straight into his exposed chest. He roared, crashing backward.

Sonic was on his toes with Shadix, flickering and rushing around the energy-sword, while the knight himself moved with a disturbingly fluid, calm manner despite his matching speed. Metic was busy whirling into Vespa with wild martial arts, which she matched with frightening ease, the two raging against each other.

* * *

Then Garas got a full-on swipe straight into Dulcy’s chest. The dragoness grunted, flying back, tumbling across the ground.

Sally felt her core empty. “Dulcy!?”

Garas gave a dark chuckle, and aimed his left arm. Bunnie heard Sally’s shout, and looked over from pummeling Mosif back with her fire. She immediately twisted her gun about, and opened fire ahead of the path of Garas’ fist just as the giant fired it off. Her stream of energy blasts flew out, Sally watching the fist close in.

The energy blasts soared across, and scattered against the flying fist, forcing it off-course, but only slightly. Sally started to fall down to her right, aiming with a pistol at Garas’ exposed wrist, firing as she hit the ground.

As his fist flew off over her harmlessly, Sally’s shot struck the inside of his arm, causing a sparking blast. Garas roared in pain, stumbling back as his fist auto-retracted, the limb crackling and smoking.

Mosif rammed his arms toward Bunnie, who was already starting to leap backward to dodge his attack, but Dulcy crashed into him bodily, slamming him to the floor, and riding him into the far wall before she leapt off and blasted him with her fire-breath, soon supported by Bunnie’s suppressive fire.

Furious now, Garas came stomping toward the clustered Mobians, and Tails took flight, peppering him with shots in a rising arc over the giant’s right shoulder. Not wanting to risk damaged to his still-working wire-fist, Garas swiped at Tails with his hand without extending it, and missed by a good distance, taking fire from Antoine, Rotor, Sir Charles, and Sally together.

* * *

Shadix suddenly shouted, “Vespa!” as he flipped up into the air.

Sonic and Metic lurched just as the two Void warrior traded foes, Vespa blurring toward Sonic, Shadix dropping down at Metic. Sonic had to flicker around several fast, pink blasts, and Metic caught the power-sword in his hands, but was forced down to one knee by the power of the strike, Shadix pressing down upon him.

Sir Charles looked over at this and frowned, then looked up at the bristling portal over all their heads. _…Unstable dimensional forces. Unless it’s ready for transport, that thing is a massive power-overload for any of them._ “Sonny! Use the portal! Short ‘em out!”

“Easier said than done, Unc!” Sonic shouted back, buzzing around Vespa in a cloud as she unleashed shock-waves and shield-rams in every direction.

Glancing over, Sonic saw Metic struggling with Shadix. If the robot dove to his left, he could be out from under the knight in a flash. “Metic! I toss, you hit!”

Metic’s optics glanced out warily, and he saw Sonic rip around Vespa, and then ram up into her back, tossing her into the air. She was more frustrated than hurt, but Metic saw the plan.

Twisting out from under Shadix, letting the sword down into the ground, Metic whirled into a ball, and rocketed up into Vespa even harder than Sonic’s instant-ram at the ground. Vespa shuddered from the impact, and flew up, slamming into the portal-sphere, vanishing inside it with a storming surge of power along its surface.

Mosif roared, “VESPA!”

Garas twisted, stunned to see what had just happened.

The Mobians took a heart-beat to absorb the success, Bunnie grinning even as she fired.

Metic landed… and before he could turn around, Shadix’s sword erupted through his shoulder. The robot howled electronically, really just overloaded from the energy of the blade surging through his systems.

Tails jerked in mid-air, the others shocked, Sally’s eyes falling with horror, fearing the worst. Bunnie stopped firing, staring at it, and then rounded on Shadix with her cannon with a roar… but she couldn’t fire. They were stuck together.

Mosif leapt out from beneath Dulcy’s assault, charging for Metic and Shadix himself. Garas quickly twisted, running that way himself. Sonic braced, ready to rush into Shadix.

But Shadix himself ended it. He ripped the blade out of Metic’s shoulder, the robot collapsing to his knees, and held his hand up to Mosif and Garas, who halted suddenly.

Everyone stopped, the portal-sphere crackling loudly with the addition of Vespa’s energies to its chaotic matrix.

Shadix sheathed his sword. “We’re losing too much ground here. Come with me, you two. We’re going to free master.”

Metic reeled around to try and tackle Shadix, Sonic blurring up to do the same, but the knight flickered up into the air, and flew for the opening up at the high landing. Garas and Mosif ripped off the ground with more thruster-like jets of power to join him.

Sally shouted, “We have to stop them from getting to the second portal!”

Bunnie was at Metic’s side the next instant, Dulcy flying over to help the others.

“Sugar-bot!”

He gave her a wan smile with his optics, and let her see his wound rushing back together. “Just gave me a shock, Bunnie. I’ll be alright.”

She couldn’t hide her relief, and nodded to him.

“May I?”

Bunnie giggled, and nodded, letting him pick her up in his arms to join Sonic racing up to the landing, Dulcy flying everyone up to it.

The moment they landed, however, they all realized something was terribly wrong. Metic let Bunnie down, the others looking back with him to the portal-sphere. The spinning rings were locking down into place, spreading catwalks between each other as the portal-sphere began to shrink and pulsate violently.

Then Vespa ripped out, slamming down onto the first ring. She was thrumming with power, arcs of it surging out of her eyes and off her jeweled body as she cackled, falling into mad laughter as her back arched and she let the power burst off of her.

Sonic braced, but Uncle Chuck quickly warned, “Don’t, Sonny! That sphere will vaporize an organic body in an instant!”

Metic turned grim. “And Vespa herself now has the same quality.”

Bunnie readied her cannon, Dulcy taking a breath, the others prepping their guns, but Metic raised his hand out to the side, specifically across Bunnie, and looked over his shoulder. “You all have to stop them from getting to the Void.”

Most of the group turned grim, realizing he was right, but Bunnie stared at him, her head starting to shake. “We ain’t leavin’ ya _alone_ out here, Metic…”

He smiled for her. “I’m the only one who can fight her, Bunnie. Please, go.”

“Metic, don’t do this ta me, darlin’…”

Sally finally spoke up, the others anxious to go, but sympathetic as well. “Bunnie, he’s right… He can stop her, this isn’t the end.”

Bunnie looked back at the others, tears in her eyes, trying to find support to stay, but even Sir Charles was anxiously eyeing the passageway further up into the tower. Then Metic’s hand touched her shoulder. “I love you, Bunnie, but I must do this. For you.”

Tails blinked at the public admission of it, even Sir Charles a bit startled, but they adapted quickly. Bunnie reached to Metic’s hand, squeezing it. “Ya better come back ta me, ya darn rust-bucket, or I’ll find ya in whatever place you go, and I’ll make you regret it!”

He smiled, and then leapt out onto the outer ring himself. Dulcy got everyone up on her back or in her pouch, Sally specifically helping Bunnie up, and then they raced off with Sonic higher up into the tower.

Vespa cackled, stepping forward as power flowed down off her body and along the platform. “Your little power-boost was impressive, I’ll admit it, but now I. Am. A. Goddess!”

Metic’s optics narrowed as his blade-fins began to rev violently. His white power burned bright throughout his body, and then began to bleed off, coating his frame, lashing out. In a moment, a blazing effigy of white power with writhing masses of white ‘hair’ was glaring at her. “Well you’ve just found your first heretic. Let’s _GRIND_!”

Shockwaves flew out from their departures from the ground, tearing up the platforms, and they slammed together with another unified wave of their energies. Vespa seemed to take the upper-hand, driving them both into the wall beside the passageway with a thundering crash that shook most of the spire.

Metic wrenched her over himself, slamming her back into the wall, and then shot out, dragging her through the air, and sending her crashing into the opposite wall. Arcs of the energy sphere trailed her body, and she stayed against the wall for a moment, letting energy pour off her body.

Pausing, Metic analyzed her. _…Her body can’t contain the energy beyond a critical point. …It can still overload her._ Nodding to himself, he burned off the wall, whirling into a destruction sphere himself as he blazed for her.

Vespa flickered, appearing right against him near the power-sphere. He unrolled, catching her, trying to pull her back toward the sphere, but she wrenched back harder. In mid-air, she seemed stronger overall. Pulled out of his bracing position, Metic couldn’t stop himself as she swung him around into a whirling disc of color around her body, and used him to shattered the first two ring platforms in a violent barrage, the metal almost liquefying with the forces shearing it apart.

And then she let go, but was so fast she was able to ram her foot down into his chest before he actually flew off, driving him straight down like a white meteor. Metic hit the floor, caving it in with a blasting wave all the way to the walls, the ground shattering and warping in erupting chunks of crystalline substance.

Vespa ripped down to grind his body into the crater he’d made, but on the ground, Metic could match her supreme powers with his own full-charge. He caught her foot, wrenched her down onto her back with a fresh crater to match it, and then wrenched himself forward, ramming his fist into her chest as she tried to rise up. She blasted a trench through the ruined floor, and took a nice chunk out of the wall, an expanding wave of shattering force causing huge boulders of it to rain down into the chamber around her.

They glared at each other through the debris, both blazing with power. Metic quickly calculated possibilities. The safest route was the direct approach; try to overpower her physically, and throw her straight into the portal sphere. It was possible, but not certain. Yet with Vespa’s speed and power, nothing else was more certain.

Metic started to advance, and Vespa used it as her trigger, flying at him with a bestial snarl. What little sanity the crystalline woman had before was evidently absent. Metic braced, his own body burning surges of power into the air, and they collided, the robot catching her arms before she could tackle him completely.

Vespa planted her feet on his chest, and then started to ram his face with one foot. “Break! BREAK! _BREAK_!”

Metic let go with one hand, forcing her swing out wildly, and then he rammed his left leg up into her flank, vertically splitting his legs with truly mechanical flexibility. She bent over the blow, but did not fly very high. She came crashing down with her fist ready, and he leapt back just as she made a fresh crater out of the floor, the jagged masses of crystal depressing further, the walls raining fresh debris down.

Vespa smiled up at Metic, and just as he came flipping in with a fresh set of kicks, she twisted up between his legs, grabbed one of them, and whipped him around, throwing him up at the portal-sphere at full speed.

Desperation fueled Metic’s response. He could withstand the portal energies, but he was not invincible to them. He unleashed a blinding explosion of his power just as he would have hit the sphere, and the colliding energies warped his momentum, sending him skipping around the sphere, almost tangential to his original path, flying toward the ceiling. His arm and back had scraped off the raw energy, and his own field of power faded around them for a moment, exposing charred metal, cracked diamond-glass, and grinding servos.

At the same moment he hit the ceiling, Vespa crashed up into him, driving him up through the crystal, nearly cutting him in half with her feet. Holding herself there by digging her claws into the ceiling around them, she leaned down into his optics, grinning. “I love you. Tearing you to pieces will be the greatest pleasure in my existence. It will be the ecstasy of a goddess! You should feel honored!”

He calmly replied, despite his voice flickering with his damage, “You are psychotic.”

She roared, ripping her right claw in at his face. The same instant, he exploded afresh. The unleashed power was beyond his previous attempts, unleashing a shockwave of raw-force that made the entire chamber slough of a layer of its surface, all raining down as an energy plume slammed Vespa down through the air, toward the portal sphere.

Vespa was trying to correct herself when Metic erupted out of his own explosion, and slammed his fist into her chest at full power and speed. A fresh ring-wave of force pulsed out, and she screamed down into the portal-sphere. Striking it like a belly-flop into an ocean at high-speed, she crunched against the surface, writhing and screaming before she slowly started to sink into it, burning up and cracking apart. With only a warped head and arm left, she reached out, screaming in shrill fury. “That rabbit whore will hate you! She’ll hate you for what you are! I was your match!”

Metic darkened, his optics sharpening to slits. “She may yet refuse me, but I will not suffer you insulting her.” He whipped down, and landed on her face with one foot, driving her down into the dimensional maelstrom with prejudice. He flipped off with the same gesture, watching her melt away into nothing before he landed heavily on the partially shattered walkways opposite the passage into the upper spire.

He had exerted more raw power in a single battle than in his full activation before the princesses recharged him. Resisting the dimensional sphere directly, holding off Vespa’s enhanced powers, he was badly weakened yet again.

Clutching his right arm, he limped slowly as his energies melted fully back into his frame, making his way around to the passage to try and join his allies. He heard the build up of energy, and his optics flared as he tried to sprint forward to evade, but he had powered down too far, and black energy exploded right at his feet, tossing him almost to the passage before he slammed harshly down into the last ring-platform, folding over himself completely to drop onto his back with a rattling breath of his respirator, mist gushing out of his faceplate.

Mosif floated down, crashing to his haunches on the platform further out, near the sphere. “She was broken. Master never made her right. It wasn’t her fault, and you killed her for it!”

Metic groaned, but from lost power rather than actual irritation… it fit for that too. He slowly turned over, and pushed himself up to his feet, his blade-fins revving weakly. He had also hurt his systems with the extremity of his surge, they weren’t working as efficiently without repairing, and repairing would eat up even more power. It would have to wait for after his fight. “…I don’t doubt that, but I had to stop her. She never would have given up. You should realize that.”

Mosif growled. Yes, he knew it, but that didn’t quiet his rage. “She was beautiful!”

Metic gave Mosif a dry, but sympathetic look. “I see she did not share your affections.”

Mosif wrenched his arms out, power bleeding off the limbs. “I’ll share something with you!”

“Well since we’re all sharin’!” Bunnie’s voice rang out just before her cannon howled.

Metic gawked as the stream of energy blasts flew out past his right arm, and slammed into Mosif’s chest. The giant had to stabilize himself before he crashed into the flickering portal-sphere himself.

Bunnie leapt out onto the platform with Metic as he looked to her in stunned relief. He legitimately needed the help, but, “H-how did you know?”

She gave him a bright grin despite her helmet, and even battered as he was, even in a battle, he was captivated by her beauty for it, how she glowed with her unending warmth. “Yer always in trouble, sugar-bot. Now come on! Let’s finish this and get back ta the others!”

Mosif roared, unleashing power with both fists at them, the air pulsating with the force of his attack. Metic grabbed Bunnie, startling her only for a second, and leapt for safety as she kept firing. Mosif missed, and took a volley to the face for his troubles.

“The portal itself. It’s the only way to be sure,” Metic told her quickly, rushing around the long way to get behind Mosif.

“How do ya wanna do it?” she asked tensely, keeping her arm and cannon trained on Mosif’s position even as she lost track of him because of the energy-sphere coming between them.

“Keep him occupied with your fire for a few seconds, and I can ram him into the sphere.”

She smirked. “You got it, darlin’.”

Mosif twisted around to meet them on the other side of the ring-platforms. Metic made sure he got Bunnie out of the path of the Void warrior’s opening blasts, and then let her onto her feet. She hopped a few meters for stability of her own, then returned fire at Mosif. He stumbled back a step, just preparing to flare a shield and unleash a full on blast-wave at her when he realized he couldn’t see the robot. “What!?”

Metic’s blade-fins roared from off on his left, and Mosif looked there just in time to see Metic stare up at him from the wall. “She may share your affections in the beyond!” And he ripped off the wall, rolling up, flaring with power, and shock-ramming straight into Mosif’s chest.

Bunnie ended her fire anxiously, watching with deadly focus as Metic rebounded off Mosif, landing to a heavy crouch on all-fours, and Mosif himself flew back, striking the power-sphere bodily.

The giant void warrior screamed, his energies eaten away by the sphere, and he started to sink into it. Bunnie leapt over to joint Metic, and the two of them looked at him as he melted away. He saw them, beside each other… Bunnie resting a hand on Metic’s shoulder. “…Vespa…”

And he vanished beneath the blazing surface.

Metic looked to Bunnie, placing his hand over hers on his shoulder. She anxiously glanced down at his wounded arm, but knew it wasn’t the time. “Where are the others?” Metic asked gravely.

She nodded to the passage. “Havin’ a nice party with our last two buddies up in the other portal-room. I fell back when Mosif disappeared from our fight.”

Metic offered his arms. “May I?”

Bunnie winked, “You know it, darlin’.”

He couldn’t resist a grin, and picked her up, leaping to the passage, and dashing up at speed worthy of Sonic himself to join their battling friends.

* * *

The upper-spire, the second portal chamber, was smaller and more sophisticated. The passage led up to an extended platform to reached across the chasm of the chamber toward the smaller, more powerful, crimson portal-sphere inside a slowly spinning hoop of gold. It was on that platform that Garas was bashing the ground and keeping Sally, Dulcy, Tails, Rotor, Antoine, and Sir Charles so busy. At the edge of it, dangerously close to the portal, Shadix and Sonic were flickering around each other, neither hitting, neither taking blows.

It was madness. Dulcy twisted a sweep under Garas’ legs as she blasted fire toward Shadix, Sonic hopping over it. Tails had a blaster trained on Garas the whole time, but tried to help Sonic as well, firing only when the pair were further apart. Garas, paranoid about hurting his right fist mechanism as the left was damaged, kept himself to direct melee, sweeping and bashing, keeping Sally and the others scattered.

At last, Shadix was deflecting a shot from Tails, and it left him open. Sonic buzz-rammed straight into his chest. Shadix stumbled back with an ill groan, his armor fractured at his chest from the blow. Sonic smirked. “Don’t worry! We’re just getting’ _fired up_!” and he zipped backward, Dulcy sending a wall of fire into the dark knight’s face.

Shadix nearly fell off the platform, but stabbed his sword down into the flooring to steady himself.

Garas then roared, falling back under a stream of energy-blasts and a shock-ram from Metic. Bunnie ran up firing her cannon, the robot dropping down a crouch near the others as the platform thundered with Garas’ crash.

“Welcome back,” Rotor said lightly to Bunnie, who winked at him.

Sally stood up aiming her pistol was Shadix. “This is over, Shadix! Drop your weapon and surrender!”

Abruptly, Shadix groaned as his body crackled with jittering, blue-white energy, falling fully to one knee. “Garas! To the portal!”

The giant rolled backward, Dulcy yelping and leaping out of his way. Garas swept Shadix up in one hand with a surprisingly adroit gesture, and leapt for the portal.

Sally cried out, “No, stop them!”

Metic and Sonic both revved, shooting after the pair, but they vanished into the red sphere with little blips of light. Metic caught Sonic by the hand, and floated back to the platform with him as the others ran up.

“Sorry, Sal,” her husband said first, looking up at her as he caught his breath with sincere guilt in his eyes.

She hugged him and kissed his cheek instead of reprimanding him. “Metic, I’m glad you’re alright,” she said over Sonic’s shoulder. “Everyone, you know we have to stop them…”

Sir Charles pointed with his pistol. The red sphere was flickering, starting to shrink down. “Naugus is shutting it down. He doesn’t want us following.”

Bunnie cocked her cannon afresh. “Sally-girl, we’re with ya.”

Tails nodded, twirling his pistols. “We never give up, right?”

Sally grinned at the young man. Even Antoine stepped further forward, replacing the charge for his own gun. “Whut are we waiting for, den? It iz time to be going, nes pa?”

Dulcy ducked down. “All aboard!”

Helping each other stay on her back, the Mobians braced as Dulcy took off, and dove into the portal.

They were on their way back to the Void.


	6. Void Zone

Brilliant waves of light soared all around them, Dulcy realizing her wings weren’t doing anything anymore inside the portal-path. They felt steady as stone, yet they seemed to be moving at impossible speed as well. Everyone, even Metic had to look around in controlled awe. It was like stars were racing around them, dancing through waves of living light.

Almost jarring for the speed of it, they were out of the tunnel of light, Dulcy quickly spreading her wings to fly right over the crystal-smooth ground they had just appeared over. Most of the group recognized the crystalline terrain of the Void, Tails gaping at it, but the veterans saw that it had changed drastically since their last visit during the war with Robotnik.

Across a broad plane of shimmering crystal, a gargantuan crystal castle rose up into the obsidian sky. It was forged with alien symmetry, governed more by magic than physics, with sweeping arcing wings, stretched and warped upward with singing ridges of flawless crystal, shining with verdant color despite the lack of sun.

“Where are Shadix and Garas?” Sally asked urgently, wary of an ambush.

Sonic pointed straight past her. “We got bigger problems now! Dulce!”

“I see it!”

The entire crystal palace was bristling with mechano-magical weapons. It was crackling with power as they approached, and in a heart-beat, a storm of destructive light was raining toward them, filling the sky. Dulcy cracked the whip, her expression rigid with focus, and she revealed to her friends that was no longer a novice flyer. She weaved through lancing power like a dancer without the limitation of the ground, and yet never moved in a way that risked losing her precious passengers. Every sharp turn pressed them to her back, every dive smoothly tilted them along her own body.

Debris and flashes of power erupted all around her, but she kept flying, blasting through them flawlessly. Her friends were stunned, realizing she was completely confident, surging forward.

Then her eyes focused sharply up and forward. “I can’t dodge the next rush!”

Metic clamped his legs to her more securely, and raised his hands as his blade-fins revved. “Charge straight through! I can guard you, but I can’t hold it for long!”

“NOW!” Dulcy shouted, snapping the whip yet again.

White power erupted off Metic, engulfing his friends, turning them into a massive comet of power guided by Dulcy’s path. It was a rare moment, each of them looking at the robot for just a heart-beat. In a strange way, he seemed like some spirit, a guardian, pouring out protecting light from his very heart. For Bunnie, the only eyes that lingered on him with a deeper sense of affection, it was not just a metaphor. This was the man she loved. It didn’t matter what he was made of, what he could… he would give everything he had for his friends… for her.

Just like they all would.

And sure enough, his energy protected them. Dulcy charged straight through… and then ripped right up the front of the huge palace. “I’m bettin’ Naugus keeps himself at the very top, so he can look down on his little play-pen.”

Sally smirked. “I suspect you’re right, Dulcy. Just, for the love of Mobius, be careful.”

Metic had to end his shield, folding down weakly between Sonic and Bunnie. The rabbit caught him gently in her arms around the waist, and he let his head sink back onto her shoulder, his dimmed optics smiling softly at her. “I gotcha,” she whispered for him, her hands holding to his front securely, but also with soft affection.

Soaring up over the top of the palace, Dulcy was proved correct. The upper-most spire was a huge, open-air throne-room. Shadix and Garas were already there, standing on either side of a broad set of steps, which led up to the pedestal that held… Naugus himself.

Dulcy landed with adroit skill, and the freedom fighters spread out, Metic and Sonic at the fore, Bunnie and Dulcy ready to unleash their firepower, the others tensed, waiting for specific targets.

Naugus looked… upset. He had a deep frown etched in his pale, yellow-green face, his slitted, red eyes narrowed. His one horn was sharp over the top of his head, his tail curling idly on his left side as his lobster-claw hand opened and closely slowly. With a slow wheeze, he addressed them in his rasping voice, “Such… unwelcome guests return to my domain. I was going to deal with you… in due time, _Queen_ Acorn.”

Sally didn’t waiver. “Where’s my father, you mad sorcerer?”

He smiled. “Closer than you think, but still far out of your reach.” Then he focused on Sonic. “It took me quite some time to understand the effect your super-speed has on the dimensional link between the Void and Mobius itself. Once I understood it, however, the rest was simply patience.” His glowing eyes finally locked on Metic. “You have the stench of my wayward apprentice on you, robot, but also a few other things… You destroyed Vespa with surprising ease. I am intrigued.”

“Ease?” Metic retorted incredulously.

“I expected you to sympathize more with another enslaved killing machine,” Naugus answered with a dark, pleased smile.

Red optics narrowed to slits as Metic’s blade-fins revved. “Just as I was stopped after attacking Bunnie and the freedom fighters,” his friends glanced at him sympathetically, “so was Vespa. Her death, her madness, are on your own hands, Naugus!” the robot shouted with surprising passion in his voice, pointing at the mage. “You created her to die!”

“Quite right. And now I’m giving the rest of you that same resolution!” Naugus suddenly leapt forward, ramming his hands out.

The crystal of the palace itself churned up like liquid, and burst into bladed spikes. The Mobians had to scatter and dive for cover, Dulcy flying up only to take a tackling strike from Garas, both of them crashing back into the ground with a shout of pain from the dragon. Shadix blurred to Sonic, the two scattering in a fresh cloud of battle at insane speed.

Metic quickly spotted Bunnie. She was fine, getting back up to return fire at Naugus himself. Tails flew out, holding Antoine, as Rotor and Uncle Chuck started to open fire as they came out from cover. Sally dove into a roll, and came up firing between two jagged spikes of crystal.

Naugus laughed, waved his hand to deflect all of their assaults with a shimmering wall of distorted air. “You can’t stop me here! Fools!” And then he rammed his claw forward.

Crystals sucked the group down into the ground wherever they stood, even Metic suddenly stuck. Sonic gasped, looking up at Shadix… who stopped, oddly, waiting with his sword. Dulcy tried to yank herself away from Garas, but he smirked at her, getting ready to smash her head into the ground.

And Naugus focused on Sally. “Goodbye, Queen Acorn.” His glowing eyes intensified, and a beam-blast ripped out of them, aiming straight of her heart.

Sally gasped, her face falling slack. All she could see were her little girls, weeping without their mother to comfort them. She saw every absence, every moment she hadn’t spent with them burning into her soul like that beam would into her flesh.

Sonic screamed, “SAL!?”

Something cracked, a crystal chime shearing the air, and then Shadix was in front of Sally, his sword blasting the magic-beam back into the ground as he grunted, holding his ground.

Even Naugus jerked with surprise, everyone, Garas included, staring in open shock at the dark knight.

Shadix raised his head. “I only let you overthrow my mind just enough to make your last mistake, Naugus!” He twirled around, and threw his sword out as a spinning disc, clipping Naugus’ horn clean off his head.

Naugus howled, falling back, and everyone ripped free of the crystal. Dulcy batted Garas away, and flew to join the others.

Shadix caught his sword in his hand, looking back just as Sonic blurred up to grab Sally in a relieved hug. Sally returned the embrace, but had to look up at Shadix in shock still. “…Shadix? Why… why did you help us?”

The dark knight reached up, and pulled his helmet off, tossing it aside.

Everyone stared at Maximilian Acorn, the former King of Mobius. Sally’s father. Tears were in his eyes as the old squirrel watched his daughter start to weep through her shock. “Forgive me, Bean,” he said in his wonderful, real voice. It was the voice that tucked her in at night, told her stories, said he loved her when he hugged her. “I had to wait for the right moment.”

Metic nursed his shoulder a bit, but didn’t say anything to the former ruler. He opted to warn them as he pointed. “Naugus!”

Everyone tensed as Naugus pulled himself up, Garas rushing up and standing guard for him. The sorcerer growled furiously, energy crackling over his body. “I’m going to crush you all, you realize?” He suddenly erupted in a pillar of energy. Garas twisted around, and stumbled away from him.

Maximilian urgently yelled, “We have to get out of the spire! He’s taking all of its power to attack!”

“With me!” Dulcy shouted, running up behind everyone.

Sally reached out to her father, but he shook his head. “I have to help Garas. I still have enough power to fight for now, don’t worry, Sally. Go!”

“Father!”

“Sonic, take care of your wife.”

The two men shared a meaningful look, and Sonic picked Sally up even as she cried. They got on Dulcy’s back, and the dragon wasted no more time, taking flight. Max ran over to Garas and offered his hand. “Don’t die for him. You know we mean nothing to him.”

Garas nodded quickly, and Max flew up and out with Garas, joining Dulcy in flying out from the palace out over the plane beyond.

Naugus’ energy engulfed the entire palace, and the group landed together a safe distance out. Max was finally able to spare his daughter a quick, tight hug, and then they all focused on the task at hand. As the energy faded away, the palace itself was moving, rising up, and _walking_ out toward them.

It was now a giant image of the sorcerer, towering over them, power bristling over his massive form. “No more toys for disobedient children,” he boomed out calmly, and a shock-wave ripped across the void.

Max, Garas, and Metic cried out, falling to the ground. Sally grabbed her father with Sonic, Dulcy and Rotor checking on Garas, while Bunnie yelped, holding Metic up. He groaned, looking up at her weakly. “…I… can’t fight… he… disrupted my power systems…”

Garas twitched faintly. “Same… here…”

Max groaned. “I’ll… be alright, but I can’t fight either.”

Sonic stood up firmly. “Dulce! Bunnie! Cover the gang. I’ve got a date with tall, shiny, and brooding over there.”

Sally snapped her hand to grab his arm. “No! Sonic! You can’t fight that alone!”

Sonic smiled at her softly, gripping her hand instead of just being held back. “I’m not gonna ‘fight’ it, Sally. My speed still does things here, and he’s going to wish he hadn’t tried to get out again. Trust me.”

Max touched his daughter’s arm. “He’s right, Bean…”

Dulcy and Bunnie leapt to the fore, cannon and breath ready. Sally finally nodded to Sonic, her heart heavy, and he blurred off in a rush.

Supreme-Naugus roared, and aimed spells blasts from his body at the blitzing blue blur, but Sonic was focused this time. He wasn’t grinning or cracking jokes… he was running, running with all his power. And the Void responded. It was starting to warp and shimmer around him, his speed increasing in this special, strange place. The magic wasn’t just failing to hit him, it was feeding his speed.

Naugus tried to crush him, but Sonic just ripped up his leg, then across the vast stomach, and up the chest. Finding a fissure in the former palace, he buzz-rammed inside, and then raced through the myriad tunnels of the new body’s core.

 _Come on, come one… Where is it!_ He knew it had to have a core, a concentration of power…

Naugus aimed his hands down at the group, Bunnie and Dulcy opening fire for lack of anything better to do.

Sonic flew into a wide, spherical chamber, honeycombed with tunnels, and smirked up at the pulsating heart of thrumming magic. He put his hands down, and his legs revved violently. “Let’s juice! For my wife, for my kids, for my friends… and for Mobius itself!”

The Void shimmered and warped at his speed, and he ripped up through the core. It shimmered, pulsed… and suddenly imploded.

Sonic blitzed out, leaping out of Naugus’ chest just as the entire super-construct began to violent warp into itself, cracking and shattering as he screamed in pain and frustration.

Sonic landed with the others, grinning at them. “Let’s get out of this place, hm?”

Bunnie picked Metic up, Sally helped her father, and Dulcy helped Garas, who mumbled an apology for trying to kill her now that she was saving his life. She just smirked, rolling her eyes, and they all watched Sonic whirl into a frenzy… his speed ripping open the portal to Mobius yet again. Tails flew up to it, and waved the others through, Antoine, Rotor, and Uncle Chuck following fast. Sonic grabbed Tails… and they all vanished from the Void.

The massive construct blew apart, the entire void trembling and quaking. Naugus himself stirred weakly in the bottom of a cavernous crater, his eyes no longer glowing. “…My magic… I can’t… feel my magic…”

He was alone, powerless… and weak.

* * *

The Mobians and Garas reappeared just beyond the collapsed wreckage of the crystal spire on Mobius. The spell that weakened them wore off, and Metic was able to stand up with Garas, Maximilian laughing as he hugged his daughter again. Sir Charles and the former king shared a warm hug as well, glad to see each other again. Bunnie just hugged Metic close, and his optics winked off as he returned it gently, so grateful for her affection.

Rotor chuckled, “I’m glad to have ya back, your majesty, but… you really hurt Metic back there, you know?”

Maximilian cringed, looking at the robot as everyone parted a bit for them, Bunnie smirking to one side. “About that… I do apologize Metic. It was a… calculated risk.”

Metic shook his head. “I can heal such wounds. Considering your situation, I don’t blame you. May I ask you something, however?” He was already starting to repair his scorched parts.

“Of course!”

“…Could Vespa have been saved?”

Maximilian shook his head gravely, Garas bowing his head. “No… You were quite right, Metic. She was born mad, Naugus never needed her to be sane enough to live a fruitful life. She never would have stopped hunting you after deciding you were her obsession.”

Metic nodded slowly.

Then the rush of a shuttle made them all look out abruptly, Sally’s brow creasing. “I haven’t even called for a lift yet…”

The shuttle landed, and none other than Snively stumbled down out of it. “There you all are! You’re the only people on this planet who don’t want me lynched! I was terrified I’d lost you all!” Then his eyes settled on King Acorn, and he squeaked.

Sally smiled up at her father, who was eyeing Snively incredulously. “Father, he’s been helping us a lot, actually. I gave him a full pardon in recognition of his help. Well, I mean, you’re the king, so you can undo that, of course, but…” she blinked, trailing off as her father grinned at her, shaking his head.

“No, no, dear Sally.” He kissed her cheek and held her tight again. He had missed his daughter so terribly. “It has been far too long for me to retake the throne. You are the Queen I always hoped you would be, strong and wise as our ancestors, beautiful as your mother, with such a magnificent family of your own. I am happy to retire, and spoil my granddaughters rotten!”

They all laughed, even Garas chuckling awkwardly, trying not to aggravate anyone. Then Max looked to Sonic, and nodded to him. “Sonic… you’ve taken wonderful care of my daughter. I couldn’t hope for a better son-in-law. Thank you.”

Sonic gripped his hand. “You raised one hell of a daughter… Dad.”

Max winked. “She is amazing, isn’t she?”

“Oh stop it! The pair of you,” Sally blustered, blushing like a cherry on both cheeks.

Bunnie giggled with the others, leaning in, “Yer smilin’ too much to be not likin' it, darlin’!”

“Bunnie!”

Snively sighed with relief, and waved onto the shuttle. “Delightful! Truly! Now can we please, for the love of Mobius, get out of this place!?”

Metic chuckled. “He has a point. Come on… let’s go home.”

“Before all that…”

Everyone focused on Bunnie, hearing her mischievous tone as she deactivated her helmet. With a light hop and lean, she was kissing Metic on the faceplate, her arms around his neck, one foot up in the air. The poor robot was completely stunned at the abrupt kiss, but his optics shut off, and he leaned back to hold her so she didn’t tip off-balance.

The group gave a building ‘ooo’, even Rotor smiling, seeing how happy Bunnie was.

When she was done, Metic’s face-plate was as cherry-red as Sally’s cheeks had been a moment again, and he cleared his throat, adjusting his neck slightly. “T-thank you… Bunnie…”

She winked at him, and pulled him along by one arm. “Come on, y’all. Let’s get goin’!”

And they did. The day was won, the battle was done… now they could rest.


	7. Bonds

Over the next couple of weeks, things finally settled back down to business-as-usual. A holiday was declared for the safe return of old King Acorn, and Max gave a speech that had thousands weeping gently for Sally and her brave friends’ heroism in saving all of Mobius from the evils of Naugus, evils even he had fallen prey to. Max also was happy to help solve a little public-relations issue for Sally and Metic, and particularly praised the ‘police chief’ and Snively for their efforts, which surprised and mollified the vast majority. With their lost king back, retired or not, many felt that the terrible war with Robotnik was really, truly over for the first time.

Garas had trouble finding a place for himself in this new world, but Rotor helped him, taking the giant on as his apprentice in his workshop. Sir Charles, proud of Rotor for doing it, was happy to visit the pair of them frequently, and shared as much knowledge as he could.

Sally, specifically, put a great deal of work into creating a support system of her trusted advisors, ministers, and friends to ease her own work-load, and made it so she could, barring emergencies, spend time with her family every evening. Lita and Cathy, amazed to suddenly have a grandfather, were ecstatic to have mama with them so much, Sonic grinning like an idiot as he watched them all play together. It was so much better than his wildest imaginings of the future had been back during the war, and he’d never felt so hopeful.

It was, in fact, Antoine who picked up a great deal of the slack for Sally so she could do this family-focused life. As silly as the man was, he was a flawless politician, and kept things sailing very smoothly for Sally’s sake. There was also this particularly lovely fox-woman who worked closely with the Queen’s office, and Antoine and she organized a great deal of business together very smoothly. She thought he was simply charming.

Dulcy, of course, returned to the Spire mostly, but she visited more often, realizing how much she had missed her friends since the war. Similarly, Tails was given the official rank of ‘page’, and allowed access to the royal family’s private area of the palace. The whole gang regularly got together just to chat.

Bunnie, on her own, still helped Sir Charles, Rotor, and now Garas with supplies and transport, but also spent plenty of time with Metic. The robot himself finally changed his work-schedule so that he got off at a normal time each day, and usually spent it with Bunnie, especially when visiting their friends.

The rabbit-woman actually had her own place in the city, she had just traveled so much with Rotor and Sir Charles, and then the fiasco with Naugus’ warriors kept them all so busy she hadn’t had a chance to use it for several days. Wanting to spend quality time with Metic, she gave him a security-key for her home. Metic did the same for her, though his own home was a very small apartment in the sky-rise near the police station, so it wasn’t well-suited to having even a single guest over.

Privately, Bunnie was excited. Ever since she had been a young girl, she’d dreamed of falling in love, meeting her man, sharing time with him. Metic was every bit the gentleman, kind-spoken to her, but ferociously courageous as well. He had a fire in him that was so captivating to her, but he knew how to be soft with her… even if his hands couldn’t be. Even after defeating Naugus, Metic had been highly respectful of her space. Yes, it made her smile when he reached out to touch her arm or shoulder without fear at last, but he rarely pushed closer than that of his own volition.

Their last night together, he had requested to hug her as his little farewell. She was going to hug him anyway, but something about having him ask almost made her melt with adoration, and she gave him a warm, tight squeeze of a hug, holding it for a long time before she let go. She had seen in his optics how much it meant to him… how much it meant that she would embrace him without wincing or complaining about how he felt. Bunnie also knew it still bothered him. That little niggling guilt was still behind his optics, guilt for _her_ touching metal to be affectionate. She just hoped that over time, showing him affection and keeping him close, she would help him see that she truly, honest to Mobius, didn’t mind what he was made of.

She tried not to let her mind settle on her own worries about it. Metic hadn’t been wrong, it was just simple fact that he was metal, hard and cold physically. She loved him, the man inside the body, with all her heart, but there was a quiet fear, a quiet pain in her at the back of her thoughts whenever she looked to the future, and realized they couldn’t _share_ the softness and warmth she had dreamt of as a girl. It wasn’t Metic’s fault! She believed that with all her heart, as much as she loved him with it! …but it was frightening. Bunnie kept her focus on his kindness, his appreciation for her, and didn’t let herself dwell on that loss.

The poor woman had had a long day after those two weeks, and had laid down for a snooze on her own couch. It was a rare thing, to see the woman sleeping. She was always full of energy and a big smile. Resting peacefully, nestled into the comfy couch with her head lolled against a fluffy pillow, her ears limp over the arm-rest, and one of her arms laid across her tummy, she was simply adorable. Deeply asleep, she just shifted a little, not realizing she wasn’t alone anymore.

Metic had arrived, just getting off work, to come and see her. The robot crouched down near the couch, and just admired her resting face for a moment. He seemed both reverent and sad at the same time. Here she was, comfortable, warm, resting. He could see her button-nose shifting gently with her breath, and his sensors were, actually, so sensitive he could hear her heart beating smoothly in her chest.

He looked down at his hand, his optics tightening. Hesitantly, he reached up, just to her closest shoulder, but paused, cringing at the idea of touching her with cold metal to startle her awake. What else could he do? It wasn’t right of him to just stare at her while she slept. If she woke, surely she would feel awkward about that. Breathing heavily through his face-plate, he carefully pressed his hand to her shoulder.

Bunnie gave a start, his hand snapping away instantly, and her eyes flashed open. Her spiked heart-rate and little surge of adrenaline made him look down to the side, even as her eyes settled on him with clearer understanding, and she smiled brightly. “Hey, darlin’…”

He smiled for her. “Should I let you sleep, Bunnie? I can get some more work done today…”

She smirked, shaking her head as she sat up. “Don’t even start, sugar-bot.” A little bleary-eyed, she wiped her eyes softly, and Metic had to pout, his optics softening, at her adorably limp ears on either side of her head. Bunnie, however, looked at him again, and knew he was feeling less than happy immediately. “…What’s wrong?”

Metic blinked, his optics giving a little hum-chime. “…I’m fine, Bunnie.”

“Metic…”

His shoulders slumped, and he stood up and away quietly. “…I’m sorry for startling you awake like that.”

For a split-second, she was confused. All he’d done was touch her arm. Then she realized. Yes, the cold had made her jerk. Her face fell sympathetically. “Aw, Metic… darlin’, we’ve talked about this. Don’t feel bad, please…”

He turned back around to smile gently. “It’s alright, Bunnie. You were just resting so peacefully, I felt sorry for startling you.”

Bunnie shifted a little to the side on her couch, patting the seat next to her. “Come ‘ere. Please.”

He hesitated, but stuttered forward a step, and finally moved over, and sat beside her carefully. Bunnie then took his hand with both of her own, and smiled at him. “Neither of us can get away from your body, Metic. Please stop tryin’ to… You can’t feel guilty for somethin’ that ain’t your fault, sugar, please.”

Metic looked down at their hands, his fingers softly lacing through her own. She was so kind to him, so welcoming. “…But I want to give you warmth… the warmth your body expects as much as your heart, Bunnie.” He looked up into her eyes. “I want to hold you close, but you can’t be comfortable that way.”

Bunnie’s smile softened, her eyes turning heavy as she leaned just over his shoulder to kiss his cheek. His optics winked off at the kiss, and then she whispered, “Tell me how ya want me close…”

His optics flared open, and he jerked involuntarily away.

Bunnie froze, startled at his reaction. Her face started to fall sadly as he finally looked up at her, clearly guilty for pulling away like he had.

“I-I’m sorry, Bunnie. I didn’t mean--?”

“…It really scares you.”

He blinked.

She nodded at him. “Hurtin’ me by accident. You really think ya might do it…”

His optics fell to the ground at their feet, his hand still in her own shaking faintly.

Bunnie eased closer again, reaching her other arm across his shoulders. “Please,” she whispered, “don’t pull away from me, Metic. I lova ya. Let me give ya somethin’? Please?”

“Y-you already--?”

“No, darlin’. Yer not listenin’. Please?”

“…Yes, Bunnie.” He seemed frightened, anxious.

Smiling gently, she whispered again, “Tell me how ya want me close…”

Metic hunched down, his brow twisting with little hydraulic hisses. “…Just… just to have my arms around you, to give you comfort as you lie down.”

“Put yer arms around me, and lie back.”

Metic stared at her, and she could see panic in his optics. “I-I can’t… let you…”

Bunnie tilted her head down, almost like admonishing a child. “Metic… I’m askin’ you ta put yer arms around me… Please.”

It took him a long moment, and she knew for a creature like him, that was an age and day. He had to build himself up to even dare it. Slowly, his hand pulled out of her gentle fingers, and the arm reached around her, the other coming up to meet it. Bunnie smiled softly, letting him know it was alright, and she pressed her hand to his cool, metal chest, signaling him to lean back onto the couch.

He was adorably nervous, she realized for herself as he finally lay down to the side. Bunnie nestled down with him, along his side, but also over his shoulder and front. Once he was down, his arms sank down around her carefully, and his optics flickered softly as they glanced down at them together.

Bunnie closed her eyes, her hand petting his chest softly. Her warmth was elevating the temperature of his body where she was touching him, removing the coldness as an issue, but he knew she was lying against hard metal. In fact, in her charming little home, he was singularly the most uncomfortable thing she could have chosen to press herself against.

It was the very definition of conflict for the poor robot. She had given him a truly precious gift, showing such trust, letting him hold her the way he was, but he knew how she had to feel. His ridged flank jabbed into her stomach, his angular hip probably putting her leg to sleep if the rest of his leg wasn’t doing the same. And his shoulder was like a bladed ball, especially twisted up for his own arm as it was, yet she was resting her neck and cheek across it. It was everything he wanted, and everything that couldn’t make her comfortable.

Bunnie seemed serene, entirely content, but the truth was his imaginings were quite accurate. If she didn’t move soon, her legs would be painfully numb, and his flank at her stomach was something she could ignore, but it wasn’t helping. She also knew there was nowhere more comfortable to move her head. But she wouldn’t insult him like that. The poor man just wanted to hug her, curl up together on the couch, for cryin’ out loud, she could give him that!

His voice was loud at her ears, but was softened for how close they were. The room had simply gone so silent since they lay down. “…Bunnie, this can’t possibly be comfortable for you.”

Her brow creased. “Darlin’, hush. I’m here, it’s alright.”

His hand shifted, gently gripping her shoulder. “Bunnie, please don’t hurt yourself just to make me feel more welcome. You always make me feel welcome.”

His hand… the way it touched her. That she could honestly enjoy. Just as when she’d first kissed him back at the palace, his hand spoke the gentle words of a lover in the most innocent, endearing way. Bunnie eased off his shoulder, looking into his eyes. “Metic… I can give you somethin’ like this. Honest, it’s really sweet of ya ta want somethin’ so simple. I don’t wanna…”

He shook his head softly. “I won’t let you make yourself miserable just to try and cheer me up. I’m sorry for spoiling your happy mood. I was being selfish. The most beautiful woman in the world enjoys my company. I don’t need to worry about how cold I am to the touch. Please forgive me. And please sit up comfortably.”

She would have persisted, but her legs hurt like the dickens. In fact, when she tried to sit up, she cringed. They were too numb to work properly for a moment.

Metic gripped her shoulders with tender care, pulled himself out from under her, and kept her upright before he softly pulled her legs out onto the floor properly.

“Thanks, sugar-bot,” Bunnie muttered meekly, rubbing her thighs to try and get feeling back into them.

He gestured with his hands to her legs. “Would you be disturbed if I helped your legs recover?”

Bunnie blinked, and did blush a little, but she sincerely trusted him to respect her privacy and the sanctity of her body. In fact, he was so respectful it became a little frustrating at times. “…That’d be sweet of ya, Metic, but ya don’t have ta…” she just trailed off with a fond smile as he crouched down in front of her, and started to gently massage her legs to get the feeling back into them.

Those hands of his… Bunnie gave a soft moan and sank back into the couch with the relief. And he was a complete gentleman about it, as always. He did massage parts of her thighs, but never rose higher than a few inches over her knees. She still blushed a bit, just because it was a naturally intimate moment, but as her eyes watched him work, she saw how focused his optics were. He was carefully calculating how best to relieve the muscles that had lost any feeling, and his hands, warming up as they remained in contact with her own warmth, became the absolutely perfect devices for such a massage… and then he started on her feet.

She nearly fell asleep again right there, her head lolled onto the back of the couch, her ears utterly limp. “…My stars, Metic… that feels so nice…”

He smiled up at her placid expression, her eyes closed, and continued to massage her ankles, heels, the arches and backs of both feet, and even between her toes.

Giggling gently, blushing still, Bunnie finally said, “Darlin’, I can feel fine again, you don’t have ta keep goin’…”

“I will stop if you wish me to, but may I please continue?”

She blinked down at him, an moue of confusion on her beautiful face. “Ya… _want_ to?”

His smile was real. In fact, more real than it had been in days as he looked up from working on her feet so precisely and softly. “This comforts you. It is something I can give you without hurting you.”

Her face fell slack. “M-Metic, jus’ because…” she trailed off as he shook his head.

“I am enjoying it. You are always beautiful, but when you relax because of something I have done for you, it makes me feel very… warm. May I please continue?”

Bunnie had to laugh gently, but saw how sincere he was. “…Sure… thank ya so much. This is really sweet, Metic.”

Another sincerely happy smile was all she got in response, and she just relaxed back again, her eyes falling shut naturally. To be honest, her feet had never felt so good. The muscles were so loosened up with his work that she could feel the warm, comfortable rush of her own blood through her feet for the first time and be consciously aware of it. It was almost like her feet were in a warm bath all their own, with jets of water massaging them constantly.

It made something occur to her, but she remained very relaxed, almost murmuring more than speaking, “…Metic… is there anythin’… I can do fer you… that’s like this…?”

He chuckled gently. She realized it was a wonderfully handsome sound, suited to him. “I have no muscles to massage, Bunnie. Your smile is all I need.”

It was such a charming thing to say, but she couldn’t help thinking, _Ya mean it’s all ya can get…_ with pained sympathy for him. “…It was real good of ya ta make me sit up when you did, darlin’. Most guys wouldn’t’ve worried about it after the girl offered to do it…”

He began to massage one foot at a time, and again soften the muscles of her lower-leg, especially her calves. It felt so good Bunnie almost felt indecent about it. “You are a very kind and self-sacrificing woman, Bunnie. I know you would hurt yourself to help someone else if you thought you had to. I just didn’t want you to do that for something so simple. The weight of my nature is not a responsibility you need to bear for my sake.”

“This… isn’t a fair time ta talk about anythin’… with you… makin’ my legs feel so nice an’ all. Clever…”

They both laughed gently.

“Bunnie, may I take you out to dinner tonight?”

She had to giggle. “You’re doin’ this all backwards, sugar-bot… Yer supposed ta wine and dine me _before_ you get yer hands all over my legs.”

She stole a peak down her face, and was rewarded to see his face staining red. She still wasn’t sure how he made black, solid metal change colors, but his blushes were adorable. “But I’d love ta go out with you, yeah.”

Metic smiled warmly for her, giving a final stroke of his hands down the fronts of her shins, and a little squeeze to each foot. “Feel better?”

Bunnie leaned over, pulling his chin up with both hands, and kissed him softly. It did surprise him, but this time he gently responded rather than jerking with shock. Parting the kiss, she smiled warmly at him, and said, “Metic, you are the sweetest man I’ve ever known. I don’t care what yer made out of. Don’t you forget that, alright?”

His expression fell slack with the sentiment of her words, and then he smiled gently. “…So where do you want to eat?”

Bunnie tickled his cheeks, just because… “Let me show you ta the best chili-dog joint in Mobotropolis, darlin’.”

He chuckled. “Sounds perfect.”

* * *

“Ole Sugar-hog may like ‘em a bit too much, but they grow on ya!” Bunnie grinned, her entire mouth a mess of chili and cheese as she finished half a chili-dog in one bite.

Metic chuckled with her. They were sitting outside, under a shade-umbrella, just near the kiosk that sold Sonic’s favorite chili-dogs. It had grown into a chain across the city because of the heroes reputation, but ironically this, the original kiosk, was all but forgotten. There was a big restaurant in the heart of the city now. Most people went there.

Bunnie paused, setting her chili-dog down, taking on an air of grave disapproval. It was clearly a put-on joke, but Metic was still looking at her, optic-ridge raised, waiting for her to explain.

“Ya know what’s wrong with this picture, sugar-bot?”

He shrugged, playing along. “I do not, Bunnie.”

She dipped her fingers into the chili-sauce, and reached over, smearing it down his faceplate. He was completely startled, and then dismal as he blinked at her with chili-sauce dripping down his face. Bunnie burst into a fit of giggles. “You can’t eat ‘ere without getting’ messy, darlin’!”

“Is that so?” he replied, his tone a careful balance of his usual calm and a touch of dry humor.

Bunnie grinned at him fiendishly.

She then gave a muffled yelp as he stuffed the second half of her chili-dog into her mouth like a cork. A blush joined her surprise, and she wasn’t even sure why. Then she gave him a glare fitted to the mischievous mood, and reached up to demurely chew off the end of the chili-dog in her mouth, setting the other bit down. “I’m thinkim’ yer darn luffy ya don’ ‘ave a mouff, darlim’,” she managed around the bite.

His optics gave a surprisingly wicked grin right back.

After the few seconds it took for Bunnie to wipe her mouth off and mop her hand clean, she smiled more sincerely at him. She was having a wonderful time, even better than she expected, in all truth. Metic was loosening up, playing little games with her, being silly. Every moment she spent with him, she was more and more sure he was a wonderful man. To think where he had come from, the combinations of completely unrelated intentions, resulting in this noble, kind, loving creature in front of her. It was beautiful. He was beautiful. And honestly, she was getting to the point where she couldn’t even see him without his glowing optics or his blade-fins.

“…Have I done something foolish without realizing it?” he asked, eyeing her sidelong.

Bunnie blinked. “Wha…? Why’d say that?”

“You’re looking at me a bit strangely. Amused?” he tested gently, not sure, but also not upset. He just couldn’t be sure what her softly wistful smile meant.

She grinned happily, and hopped up, taking his arm as she wiped the sauce off his face-plate for him with a napkin. “Come on! I want ta take you fer a walk!”

Metic smiled, playfully letting her drag him down the street. It only took them a few minutes to reach the park, and they started to stroll leisurely. Bunnie even looped her arm through his, and rested her cheek on his hard shoulder. She actually found a position for her cheek nestled between two of his diamond-glass ridges there, and it was almost comfortable. Metic patted her hand on his arm, glancing at her appreciatively. “…We can just walk beside each other, Bunnie. I don’t want your arm or neck to get sore.”

“I’m fine, darlin’,” she said breathily, her little tail twitching contently.

After a few moments of beautiful silence together, Bunnie tipped her head so that her chin was on his shoulder, and she was smiling mischievously at him. “Can I tell you somethin’, Metic?”

He smiled at her. She was too close for him to look at directly, but he tilted his head toward her, listening. “Of course.”

“I really appreciate you actin’ like such a gentleman with me. You make it so clear how much you care about me. I do see it. You know that, don’tcha?”

His optics softened, and he risked reaching up to gently caress her silk-furred cheek. “Yes, Bunnie… it’s why I treasure your smile so much. I see your love for me in your smile. It gives me my heart…”

His choice of words struck her, and she tilted her head, her eyes curious. “Gives it to you…?”

Metic nodded softly, letting his hand down from her lovely face. “I was a killing machine, Bunnie, and then a damaged copy. You taught me how to love, how to feel, for myself. Programming and various aberrations explained everything else. My love for you came from my experience, my life. Without knowing you, I never could have loved.”

She stopped him, pulling him gently to hold him with her, and looked into his optics, her own shining with tears from how deeply she was touched by what he had just said. “Oh darlin’… That’s… that has ta be the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard of,” she began with a little laugh in her jittery voice, “but don’t give me so much credit. You’re a real man, a whole man, and I love ya.” She reached up, patting his cheek this time.

His optics shut off, and he tilted his head to her hand before he answered, looking at her sincerely. “I love you, Bunnie… and it was loving you that made me the man I am… that man you see, the man I hope I really am. I never would have presumed you would choose me, but you gave me my heart.”

It was so beautiful and so pitiful at the same time. Bunnie cooed gently, kissed his cheek, and wrapped her arms around him as the stars began to sparkle in the sky. His arms returned the embrace carefully, his hands perfect as they softly stroked her back and caressed her neck.

“…Your hands always touch me with love, Metic,” she whispered to him. “I feel it. Thank you so much.”

He trembled weakly. It was the deepest relief, to know that some part of it, some aspect of the power of his love for this amazing woman could actually reach her properly. His head sank over her shoulder, and he held her just a small bit tighter. She responded, her arms tightening around him, holding him close.

“You’re perfect… just don’t squish any harder?” she tried to keep her humor light and happy, she didn’t want him to jerk and be afraid.

He did hesitate faintly, but her voice kept him close. “Understood… I’ll remember.”

Bunnie gave a little laugh (hiding a sob with it), and just clung to him, hoping he could feel something, anything in what she was giving him, to let him know she really did love him.

“…I’ve had a perfect night with you, Bunnie. Thank you so much.”

“It’s been perfect fer me, too, Metic… thank you…”

* * *

After their walk, Metic and Bunnie were holding hands as they walked up to her home again. Metic politely lifted her hand as she stepped up to the door, not approaching the door himself despite being allowed to enter, trusted as family already. Bunnie smiled at his manner, however. “That’s my gentleman…”

He smiled warmly with his optics. “Bunnie, may I ask a great favor of you?”

Gently playful, she asked, “What?”

“I know I don’t have lips to give it, but may I kiss you goodnight?”

She nodded softly, her expression more serious, loving rather than mischievous.

Metic eased up on the steps, only to be close enough, and gently leaned toward her lips, his optics shutting off. His faceplate touched her lips with exquisite care, and Bunnie responded as if it were wonderful and warm, returning it, wrapping her arms around him to welcome it. His hands came up to hold her arms, gently caressing them. They lingered like that for a few moments, and finally parted, Metic easing back down off the steps. “…Thank you.”

She smiled happily. “Thank you. Good night, Metic. …I love you, darlin’.”

“Good night, sweet dreams. I love you.”

Bunnie gave a soft wave, which he returned as he walked off, and then she vanished inside her house. Metic lingered for a just moment, and then flickered out of sight. Inside her home, Bunnie rested against the door, smiling. So they couldn’t have kids… if she couldn’t be happy with that man, she never would be.


	8. Plans for the Future

Sir Charles had his own lab in a different part of Mobotropolis. It was a large facility, with high-end security, automated systems, robotics, and the best computers on the planet. He’d made them all himself, of course. The security was simply from the lesson he had learned after Robotnik. Aside from Sally and their closest friends, he didn’t let _anyone_ have access to his private work and concepts. He would never let that happen again. He knew that every wonderful idea he had could be corrupted into something awful.

That was why the entire facility had a self-destruct. It would do no harm to the populace, but the files, machines, and structure of the facility itself would completely implode to useless slag at his coded signal, mixed with his DNA verification. He had given Sally a secondary key to the same device in case the worst happened, they no longer had him around to help stop someone from getting a hold of his inventions.

He hated being a suspicious man. He loved people, wanted to help them, but he couldn’t risk the world again… No one knew how heavily it weighed on him, that his inventions had been the key to Robotnik’s domination. Roboticization…

A signal beeped at the large console where he was working that moment. He was busy reading over some programs to debug them, and so he had to pull his bifocals down to properly see the signal. Lightly surprised, he touched the flashing red button, a little screen above it showing Metic standing outside. “Hello there, Metic. What brings you by today?”

Metic gave the camera-view a light smile with his optics, though he seemed a little tired for some reason. “I wanted to discuss something with you. Privately, if I may, Sir Charles.”

The hedgehog smirked. “On one condition.”

Metic blinked.

“You call me Uncle Chuck.”

The robot chuckled, bowing his head. “Deal, Unc.”

Charles laughed. “Now you’re talkin’! Come on in.”

Metic was one of the core group, one of the trusted, so he could simply walk in. Waiting at the door for the signal was just his version of being polite. Sir Charles turned his chair around, looking to the mechanical doors at the other side of the large, square room that served as the ‘brain’ of his facility. The robot entered just a moment later.

“Thank you for taking the time, Uncle Chuck,” Metic began surprisingly serious in manner, but also sincere. Something was on his mind.

Sir Charles leaned back. “Well what’s on your processor, my boy? It looks like the world is on your shoulders.”

Metic cracked a faint laugh, his faceplate venting quietly. “Pardon my mood, but yes, I’m concerned about something. …I need to ask a very great favor of you…”

Seeing the robot almost guilty in front of him made Sir Charles turn grave, frowning as he brushed his mustache softly. “…And what would that favor be?”

Metic actually went down to his knees, bowing his head. “I’m begging you to help make me organic.”

Sir Charles stared at him, mouth slack. The request itself was… predictable, in many way, but Metic’s manner, his pleading combined with it was enough to stun the old genius where he sat. “…Metic… son, have you thought about this properly yet? I understand why you want it, but have you thought it through?”

Metic raised his head, his optics heavy. “There are grave risks, yes. There must be, but I must try, Uncle…” His use of the term made it so real, so truly like family. It was Metic’s name for him. Sonic used ‘Unc’, Sally used ‘Sir Charles’, most everyone else just used ‘Uncle Chuck’, but Metic made it deeper than that friendly term. “I can not slave Bunnie’s heart to a metal shell. She is too loving, and too kind. I adore her. I must try.”

Sir Charles just looked at him for a long moment, his own eyes tightening slowly. “…You really do love her…”

Mild horror flashed across Metic’s face. “You think I do not?”

The hedgehog held up a hand, serious. “Stop. I didn’t mean it like that, Metic.” He shook his head softly, then looking into those optics again. “I meant… I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone so sincerely willing to give up everything just to make someone else happy, Metic. But there is a very serious question I must challenge you with before we continue on this road, son.”

“Ask.”

“You _do_ know Bunnie would never ask this of you? That she loves you as you are?”

Metic nodded slowly. “Without doubt. She has gone through so much to prove it. I do this because it must be done, Uncle. Bunnie, of anyone, deserves the warmth and the softness, the closeness. She offers it to me anyway, even though I can’t give her any of it in return. That is not right. It is not just. It is not love to allow it to continue this way. Nor can I attack her love by refusing it. She chose me, I must respect her choice, whoever it might have been. Now I must take responsibility for it.”

Sir Charles had to smile gently. Bunnie had seen it before any of them, he realized. This nobility in this strange, unique creature. Yes, he had the body of a robot, all the parts of one you could detect, but he had a heart. This creature was a soul, just with a shell of metal, glass, and plastic instead of flesh, skin, and bone. “…She chose well.”

Metic’s optics softened at the response.

Sir Charles stood up. “But there are very serious risks, Metic. Have you told her you’re doing this?”

Metic looked down, ashamed. “…No.”

“…She wouldn’t allow it.”

The robot shook his head. “…In truth, Bunnie is… afraid to ask me to change. Afraid that she cares less than she does. If she doesn’t accept me as metal, she fears she’s not accepting _me_. Please, Uncle, I…”

Uncle Chuck put a hand on the robot’s shoulder, looking into his optics with warm, if a bit sad understanding. “We do this slow, careful, and by the numbers, son. I can’t guarantee you it’s even possible yet, but you’ve got my help.”

Metic bowed his head to the man in front of him. “Thank you…”

“…I’ll work up some preliminary concepts, but may I scan you into my system here?”

The robot stood up. “Whatever you need.”

Sir Charles patted his back. “I have no doubt, son. Come on.”

* * *

Sally never once conceived she would sympathize with Robotnik about anything. Ever. It just hadn’t entered her mind in the wildest of nightmares that she could feel the way that tyrant felt about someone. That had changed after a solid week of Snively hounding her to try and get a meeting to propose an invention he had come up with since he’d rescued them all from the wastes.

She was listening to the fifty-third message he had left that week, rubbing the bride of her nose with a slow groan.

“I know you’re busy, your majesty,” his tone always dropped to that snide, sycophantic tone when he said those two words together. She’d never hated her rank so much, “but I must insist! Please contact me as soon as possible! I must present my invention! You won’t regret it! I assure you…”

She snapped the message off, and exhaled.

The side-entrance to the throne-room slid open, and she glanced up tiredly to see her husband. Sonic was walking up to her with a knowing smile on his own face, and she just sank into his front when he was close enough, hugging him. He soothingly caressed her hair and back. “What’s up, Sal? You look like you pulled an all-nighter planning some new mission or somethin’.”

The Queen sighed, making a little whimper as she enjoyed the hug as a mini-vacation from the insanity. “Snively’s still pushing for a meeting… I think we should give it to him just to shut him up…”

Sonic chuckled, and leaned down, kissing the top of her head. “I’ll set it up for ya. Sound good?”

She laughed weakly, tipping her forehead to his chest. “Thanks…” She eased back, curious, “Where are the girls?”

He grinned. “Your dad is nearly giving them a run for their money. He’s like a kid himself.”

Sally laughed more heartily, glowing at the idea of her father playing with her children. “How sweet! Oh, what a relief… “ Sonic knew she was speaking of so much more than just Snively being taken care of. Her father was back, her family was safe, and Mobius seemed safe and stable again.

“Tell ya what,” her husband began, giving her a little squeeze. “You go play with the girls and dad, I’ll schedule this meeting, and see what else I can wrap up for you. Might need to call Ant in for some help, but we’ll take care of it.”

Sally stood up, hugged him, and then kissed him lovingly. They held it for a long moment before she eased away. “Sonic, I love you… thank you so much.”

He patted her cheek, kissed the other, and then playfully swatted her behind to move her past him.

“Ah! You naughty hedgehog!” she was giggling as she complained, however.

He winked, and then very sincerely said, “I love you, Sal.”

She still smacked his butt before she ran out, laughing as he tossed a pile of papers at the door shutting behind her.

* * *

Between Sonic and Antoine, they persuaded Snively to give a very condensed presentation during one of the ‘off’ days when most of the group would be visiting the palace. He would have everyone, so long as he didn’t take too long. Snively didn’t balk at the chance. The whole group, even the princesses, Tails, and Dulcy, were in the throne-room with Sally as they let Snively open his holo-imager out in the space of the room.

Using a laser-pointer to assist himself, Snively revealed a special device, an energy discharge array. “I propose, your majesty,” she ground her teeth at his tone, “to permanently seal the void. With the data collected by Nicole and my own research under Robotnik,” he quickly sped past that point, “I believe the proper energy harmonics broadcast into a void-portal will forever separate our dimension from it.”

Sir Charles stroked his chin. “It has potential, but also rather risky, Snively.”

Snively raised his finger. “Precisely why my lab to work on the project is isolated deep underground, to contain any errors despite my _very_ careful calculations, sah.”

Sally’s eyes tightened. Max was holding the two princesses up in his arms to let them see clearly, and she was glad of it. She needed to be a Queen this second, not a mother with her children. “…We do need to deal with the threat of the void decisively, but I just don’t know Snively… How close are you to… testing it?”

“Perhaps a few weeks, your majesty!”

Rotor and Bunnie shared a thoughtful frown at the idea, Metic just eyeing the holo-image in a grave mood. The others were looking about, Sally and Sonic sharing a look with Max, and then finally Sally nodded. “Alright, Snively. You’ve got the go-ahead, but no actual tests or live experiments with void portals without express permission, understood?”

Snively bowed. “Of course, your majesty! Thank you so much! You won’t be disappointed.”

Antoine busily answered, “Well den git to eet! ‘ou ‘ave been pestering Queen Sally for ages for eet!”

Snively blushed, cleared his throat, “Of course!” and quickly picked up his things before shuffling out of the throne-room.

Sonic actually shared a high-five with Antoine before the group laughed a little and went back to having fun. Sally made sure to steal her daughters from her father, and snuggle them both tightly as they walked out of the room.

* * *

With Rotor working with Garas, and Sir Charles oddly busy in his own facility, Bunnie had a great deal more down-time than she’d been used to. Metic didn’t get off work until late in the afternoon, though they did have several very happy dates since the chili-dogs. Even so, Bunnie could tell Metic was still troubled by something. She wasn’t entirely sure what anymore. She had done everything she could to let him know she wasn’t bothered at all by his metal body. Yes, it demanded certain considerations, but she didn’t resent him for it… And aside from little surprises at the coldness of his metal hands, he had never cause her more than slight discomfort, so he had no reason to be worried about hurting her after they had discussed it.

It would have to be brought out into the open soon, but Bunnie didn’t want him to feel attacked. Her own uncertainty made her hesitate further. Needing some input from someone she trusted, Bunnie decided to pay Sally a visit during the day.

“Aunt Bunnie!” Cathy and Lita squeaked with joy, bolting into Bunnie’s legs as she came into the private area of the palace.

“Little darlin’s!” Bunnie replied happily, dropping down and grabbing them both in squeezing hugs. “Oh, you two are so cute!”

Sally and Sonic looked over with grins, Maximilian sitting back, clapping at the good of it.

“We missed you, Aunt Bunnie!” Cathy proclaimed.

Lita quickly added, “Yeah! Can you stay a while today?”

Bunnie grinned, and picked the girls up in her arms with a play at how difficult the task was. “We’ll just have ta see how long your parents will let me, huh!?”

Both girls giggled as she playfully ran back to the Queen and Sonic. She showered happy kisses on them both, and finally put them down. Lita ran to her mother, Cathy her father, both pleading for them to let Bunnie stay. Their parents were already melting, but they didn’t need an excuse to have Bunnie stick around.

“Good to see ya, Bunnie,” Sonic greeted her for himself, hefting Cathy up into one arm, and hugging the rabbit-woman from the side.

“Great to see y’all, sugar-hog,” Bunnie responded in kind, and then she and Sally shared a similar hug as the Queen held Lita.

“Young Bunnie. I’m still not used to you being so grown up!” Maximilian said fondly.

Bunnie trotted over with a little coo. “Come ‘ere, ya old granddad.”

He stood up, hugging her like her own father. She pecked his cheek with a warm smile, and the lot of them relaxed into playing with the girls. Bunnie was giggling in seconds thanks to Lita dancing with her mother to her favorite music, Sonic giving the rabbit a dry look for her smirk at him as he played at tea-time with Cathy. His look didn’t help, because he was giving it over a toy tea-cup, his pinky lifted out.

In no rush to end the wonderful family time, Bunnie reveled in it. A little whisper in her heart reminded her that Lita and Cathy might be the only children she ever helped raise without adopting herself. She joined them for ‘tea’, ‘raced’ Lita around the room, and even danced with Max as the daughters got their parents dancing to Cathy’s favorite music.

In time, though, Bunnie had a chance. Max and Sonic were fawning over the little girls, and Sally was standing back with her friend, smiling at the scene. The rabbit-woman glanced at Sally side-long, and then touched her arm gently.

Sally blinked at her, seeing the calm, more serious intent in Bunnie’s eyes. “…What is it?” she asked softly, understanding the privacy Bunnie was hoping for.

“Would it be okay if we talked a bit, Sally-girl?” Bunnie whispered.

Sally hugged Bunnie around the shoulders from the side, and looked out. “Sonic, girls, Papa, Bunnie and I will be back soon, we just want to have a little ‘sister’ time, okay?”

Cathy pouted, “You’ll be back soon?” With her own sister, she was looking at her mother and Bunnie with equal fret. They wanted both women to stay forever.

Bunnie nodded emphatically. “Real soon, Cathy. Don’t you worry ‘bout a thang.”

Sonic just gave Sally a wink, and Max, a master politician, only smiled demurely, waving them ladies off even as he focused on Cathy to help distract her back to her tea-time and stuffed-animal friends. She introduced him to Mr. Puddle-duck, while Lita started to wrestle with her father.

* * *

Sally took Bunnie to her bedroom to give them plenty of privacy. She sat lightly on the bed, smiling gently for her concerned friend. “So what do you need to talk about, Bunnie?” She had ideas, of course, but Bunnie needed to give it her own approach.

Bunnie sat down as well, grateful for her friend’s patience and kindness. “Sally-girl… first, thank ya. I hate to drag ya away from your little darlin’s, I just…” she trailed off meekly as Sally shook her head with a little smile.

“I’m here for your, Bunnie.” She patted her shoulder. “I’m listening.”

Bunnie did ease softly, her hands in her lap as she looked down at them. Her ears were unusually limp around her head. “It’s about Metic…”

Sally controlled the pang of fear in her heart. Was it happening already? The split she feared for them?

Looking up into the squirrel woman’s eyes, Bunnie continued, “Somethin’s botherin’ ‘im, but I can’t figure out what. I can see it in his optics, Sally-girl, even after everythin’ we’ve talked about. I… I don’t know what else I can tell ‘im, how else I can show ‘im it’s okay…”

It was both a relief and puzzling to hear the actual problem. Bunnie herself was still fully devoted to the relationship, but _Metic_ was drawing back somehow? Sally could relax from her fear, and let her full sincerity return, stroking Bunnie’s upper-back comfortingly. “Do you have no idea at all what it could be?”

Bunnie shrugged gently. “A few, but… I just can’t be sure. I mean, I can’t expect all of his fears an’ stuff to just blink out when I say so, but I thought he’d… believe me more, I guess,” She cringed though. It made him sound cruel and untrusting. “N-no, that ain’t right. He’s not doin’ anythin’ wrong ta me. I just… I see ‘im hurtin’, and I don’t know how to help ‘im.”

Sally gave her a bracing hug. “It’s okay. I’m not jumping to any conclusions, Bunnie. Just speak your mind. What do you think it might be?”

She smiled at her friend’s kind choice of words, truly comforted by them. “I think he’s still feelin’ guilty about … bein’ metal. And he shouldn’t!” Bunnie declared emphatically to her friend, looking into her eyes. “Aw, Sally-girl, I wish ya could see how gentle he is. He’s a gentleman to ‘is soul. And he’s easin’ up around me!” she added happily. “We play around a bit now, goof off, be silly! He could give your sugar-hog a run for ‘is money, I swear it!”

Sally giggled with her friend’s report. “I see it in your eyes, Bunnie. He’s obviously very sweet to you. I’m so glad. You just… see he’s sad, too?”

Bunnie nodded. “Yes! Exactly! That’s it… He’s just… sad about somethin’.” She shrugged. “I don’t know why, though… It’s not like we can’t touch at _all_. Oh, he gave me the most wonderful foot-rub the other day,” she scrunched her shoulders up, smiling at the memory. “Did my whole legs down to my little toes,” she wiggled them out, giggling with a blush.

Sally gave her a dry smile. “Goodness, Bunnie, you two _are_ quite affectionate, aren’t you?”

Bunnie’s face turned red, and she swatted Sally’s shoulder. “My stars! You can be a vixen sometimes, Sally-girl…”

They were both smirking anyway.

“And he didn’t do my _whole_ legs… he was a gentleman, like I said,” Bunnie affirmed, a bit disgruntled, looking off. Her blush was too bright for her to be totally stalwart about it.

Sally giggled, and the rabbit finally had to bow her head. “Okay, okay, it felt _really_ nice… more nice ‘an I expected.”

Smiling more sincerely, Sally nodded, “I’m glad for you… But he’s upset anyway? Even though you two can share some time together like that?”

Bunnie nodded. “I mean, it might also be… He’s afraid a-hurtin’ me. By accident, ya know? He might squeeze too hard or somethin’.” It was clear Bunnie didn’t consider it a big issue.

Sally was a bit concerned by that very matter herself, but seeing Bunnie’s completely natural dismissal of it calmed her own fear quite a bit. “So he hasn’t done anything to give you a scare? By accident, I mean, of course. I know he cares for you,” she added gently, giving her friend a little squeeze.

Bunnie smiled, shaking her head. “Not once. Yeah, he’s a little too cold ta the touch sometimes, but that’s easy to deal with. I mean, the only time I ever really got uncomfortable was my own fault,” she shrugged.

Sally tilted her head. “How do you mean?”

Bunnie blushed more seriously, glancing aside. “Please don’t laugh…?”

“Of course not. Not if you’re really worried, Bunnie. I would never mock you.”

Knowing it before she even asked, really, Bunnie flashed a little smile, nodding before she explained. “Before he massaged my legs, actually, I… I wanted to show ‘im I wasn’t scared of bein’ close, so I… I asked him how he’d like ta be close.”

Sally gently touched a hand to Bunnie’s lips. “Sweetie, if this is really private, you don’t need to explain to me. I get the basic point.”

She did blush brighter, but shook her head a little. “Nothin’ that bad, really, Sally-girl, just… I mean I hope ya don’t go shoutin’ on the rooftops or anythin’, but nothin’ really… naughty, ya know?”

Sally nodded.

Continuing, Bunnie said, “Well… he said he just wanted ta… lie down with me, hold me. You know? Just on the couch,” Bunnie was smiling fondly, in fact, still finding it adorable that he’d ask for something so simple. She also felt guilty that she hadn’t been able to really share it with him.

Sally nodded, smiling gently as well, and let her go on without speaking.

“So I tried to prove it was okay. I let ‘im put his arms around me, and we just lay down on my couch.” The guilt became obvious as she glanced out. “…I… couldn’t really stay that way…”

Sally patted her cheek. “Aw, but Bunnie that was so sweet of you.”

Bunnie smiled gently for the kind touch. “Want ta know the really adorable part about ‘im, though?”

“Sure,” Sally said fondly.

“He’s the one who ended it. He knew I couldn’t be comfortable that way. My legs had fallen asleep and everything. That’s… That’s why he gave me the little rub.”

Sally cooed. “That’s your gentleman alright. Bunnie, that’s adorable, about you both,” she added with a little laugh.

Bunnie’s mood lightened softly, and she nodded. “But that was the worst it’s ever been with us. Honest!”

“Never just gripped you too tight?” Sally asked gently, not blaming, just checking.

Her friend shook her head. “No. Never.” Bunnie’s blush returned, but happily this time. “His hands are wonderful, Sally-girl. They’re a little cold, yeah, but… the way they touch me is just… It feels good to be touched like that. Gentle… precious…”

Sally felt a deep sense of relief. They did have it, at least a little. They had something they could share together, intimately and warmly. She pulled Bunnie closer, into a full hug. “You’re probably right, Bunnie. He’s just a little worried still, that’s all. I bet if you talk to him about it, you’ll be able to smooth things out. Honestly, just hearing this from you, how much you appreciate him, how comfortable you are, will help a lot.”

Bunnie exhaled with relief of her own, resting her head on Sally’s shoulder. “Ya really think it’s that simple? He’s not… He’s not feelin’… like he made a bad choice?”

Sally cooed, giving Bunnie a tight squeeze. “No! Never, Bunnie… He adores you. Oh, your poor thing. No, no, he would never feel that way, Bunnie.”

It was the little fear Bunnie hadn’t even realized she’d had until she said it to Sally, and hearing Sally’s affirmation soothed it deeply.

“Thank you, Sally-girl…” she whispered, returning the hug tightly, crying a little.

“It’s what sisters are for.”

“Yer right about that, for sure.”

They shared a happy laugh. After Bunnie had a chance to calm down, wipe her eyes, and steady herself, they went back to rejoin the tea-party.

* * *

Metic held his arm out between two large beam-arrays. One was like a tall pedestal rising out of the ground, the other descending down from a large frame that touched down to the ground out around him. Sir Charles was watching carefully, standing at a console just beyond the frame.

“Power cells are charged, test twenty-three ready. Metic?”

The robot slowly opened and closed his right fist, the one inside the area between the two arrays. “Ready, Uncle.”

Uncle Chuck raised a master-control lever up to full. The two arrays glowed with bright blue light, and then engulfed Metic’s arm in a field of it between them. His arm was a barely visible effigy within the light, and he slowly moved it.

“Molecular rearrangement in progress…” Metic muttered, but then groaned, his systems registering catastrophic damage to his arm. “Uncle…”

Sir Charles instantly snapped the lever down, shutting the energy off. Metic groaned, stumbling back, clutching his shoulder… as the arm below was a smoldering, charred mess, steaming. The elder hedgehog walked up to Metic with a wince of sympathy. “…Son, this isn’t going well…”

Metic focused, and his white power engulfed the damaged limb. Over the next few seconds, the limb filled back out, clicking and grinding, and then finally seemed restored. He relaxed upright, flexing it, and looked at Uncle Chuck. “The effect is certainly becoming more extreme.”

Sir Charles sighed. “Metic, I can’t get a solid estimation on what we have to do. This is like trying to turn a car into a cow. No offense intended,” he added quickly.

The robot just nodded. “I understand the complexity, but surely if you can discover a way to turn the intricacy of a Mobian brain into a robotic processor and back again, this has a theoretical potential?”

“I won’t deny that, but the two processes are unrelated in your case, son. And the real danger is that without fully exposing your body to the field, we’re risking… nightmarish complications. I mean, yes, I’d rather have a severed limb to deal with than a dead friend, but still… It may be that without your cohesive system within the change-field, the change can’t complete.”

Metic looked into his eyes. He knew what Sir Charles was actually saying. The risks were too great. They could kill him long before they ever found a way to make him flesh and blood. “…Uncle, I can’t…” he trailed off as Sir Charles spoke again.

Soft in voice, sincerely sympathetic, the hedgehog put his hands on Metic’s shoulders. “Metic, she loves you. She honest to Mobius loves you. This isn’t worth the risk!”

Metic’s optics shut off, and he bowed his head. “…I can’t just give up on this… It will torment her until she can’t stand it anymore, Uncle. She’s too kind to accept that. She’s already given me more than I could rightfully ask for. I can’t stop… please, help me?”

Sir Charles exhaled, heavy-hearted. “…Give me a few days. I need to set up a cohesive system with fail-safes so you don’t…” he just shook his head.

Sincere relief brought Metic’s optics up to him. “Thank you…”

The elder hedgehog just waved out toward the doors. “Just go see your girlfriend, son. I’ve got work to do.”

They shared a wry smile, and Metic flickered out of sight. It left Sir Charles standing there, grave, eyeing the two beam-arrays. “…Just gonna have to be careful with this one…”


	9. A Moment for Her, An Age for Him

Snively had spared no expense. He was desperate to prove to the populace that he wasn’t public-enemy number one by doing something definitive, on his own, that would benefit everyone obviously. Yes, it was a transparent ploy, but he wasn’t tricking anyone either. Isolated away from the city, his lab specially designed for the effort to seal the Void was several hundred meters below the surface, buried in solid rock and durable metals, with sophisticated energy dissipation built into the very architecture.

With help from Rotor, Garas (who had a unique understanding of Void energy dynamics), and Uncle Charles (when Snively could get the hedgehog away from whatever blasted project he was so busy with…), Snively masterminded the sealing process itself. From the small control-room, specially shielded against dimensional anomalies, the portal-chamber beyond was deep-set in the rock, a rectangular box with a portal-frame prepared at one end. The controls were with him, but the beam-array that would seal the portal was in the portal-chamber. It resembled a massive tank without treads, truthfully, the ‘cannon’ ready to deliver the energy signal that would, in theory, scramble the harmonics between the Void and Mobius, forever dividing them.

It was ready for the first actual test, so Sally herself elected to come watch. Most of the group wound up coming, Max staying behind to watch the girls for Sally and Sonic. Dulcy was busy at the Spire. Apparently it was near hatching time. Tails was there, however, along with Antoine, Metic, Bunnie, Sir Charles, and Snively himself standing at the large console.

Adjusting his collar, Snively smiled at the group. “With your permission, your majesty, I will begin the first attempt! As you can see for yourself, the lab is as safe as possible, with every contingency accounted for. The portal itself is one-way, like those that, unfortunately, were used against your group in the past…” He swallowed at the dark looks they gave him, but no one said anything further on the matter. “Shall I?” his voice cracked slightly.

Sally nodded, exhaling. “Let’s just hope this works. If it does… we’ll be in your debt, Snively. Thank you.”

He relaxed a bit, smiling back, and turned to the console. Metic’s optics tightened out at the portal chamber. Everything seemed to be properly shielded against dimensional anomalies. The portal-frame was secure, the control-room shielded, everything made out of the right materials… but he felt uneasy. His systems confirmed he was running at full functional capacity, but he knew by then that his systems couldn’t actually scan every part of him… this was a … gut feeling.

Feeling a soft touch on his shoulder joint, he quickly turned, and shared a gentle smile with Bunnie. She just winked at him, and focused back on Snively’s work for herself. Metic admired her for a moment, and then looked back out.

It began quickly and smoothly. Snively activated the portal, stirring the air inside the portal-chamber, and the beam apparatus began to charge with crackling waves of power.

“The discharge is quite normal!” Snively announced over the building machine sounds around them. “Just part of the field charging before targeted release!”

When the beam fired, something strange happened, however.

A blue-white streak of light flew out, hitting the portal, but at the same time a wave passed through the air, a distortion, and it passed through the walls without effort. Snively froze, his eyes locking on his console as everyone jerked. At first, everyone seemed to be fine, but Metic had fallen to one knee, groaning. Bunnie was already starting for him, but what happened next was too fast. Sonic was the only one there who could even follow what happened enough to confirm it.

Once the wave hit Metic, it shivered, reacting to him, and the energies at the portal went mad. A barely perceptible link formed between Metic’s body, through the viewing window, and the portal itself… and the energy traveled right up that link and engulfed Metic’s body.

In an instant, Metic, the light, and the distortion all pulsed down into a single point of space just in front of Bunnie… and vanished with a soft ripple of distorted air.

It had been too fast to really see for everyone else. Metic was there, kneeling suddenly… and then gone with a strange pulse in the air where he’d been. Bunnie fell down to her knees, staring at empty space where her love was supposed to be. It had been too fast for anything except shock to form yet… and Bunnie was the first to feel an emotion.

She was on Snively so fast even Sonic was startled, slamming the poor man into his own computer with both fists hefting him clean off the floor. “What did you do!? Where is he!?”

Snively was sputtering, choking, sincerely panicked. “I don’t know what went wrong! That shouldn’t have happened! Please!”

“If you did that on purpose I will _skin you alive_!” Bunnie screamed into his face.

Snively had once thought nothing could frighten him more than Robotnik’s cold eyes… but the burning fury in those emerald pools would haunt him for most of his life after that day.

No one was pleased with Snively, but it was clear that Bunnie was so shocked and hurt by Metic’s vanishing that she was in a dangerous state. Sally and Sonic were with her that instant, prying her off Snively, Sally pulling her back as Sir Charles and Rotor quickly ran up to the console, checking status and information.

Sonic held Snively steady, but was firm himself. “What the heck just happened, Snively?”

The hook-nosed man shook his head rapidly, the others focusing on Bunnie with growing sympathy as they began to realize the worst might be true. Metic might be gone, so suddenly. Snively managed, “I-I can’t explain it yet. I n-need a m-moment to examine the data!”

Sonic pointed at the computer firmly, and Snively jerked up to it. He actually shooed Sir Charles and Rotor away in mild panic, and his hands began to scramble over the console.

It finally hit Bunnie. Her anger had flared first, but the idea that she’d lost him… She sank to her knees with Sally, tears pouring out of her eyes without sobs. “H-he can’t be… please no… we gotta get ‘im back…”

Sally tears in her own eyes, hugged her friend tight, looking up at Sonic. He gently shook his head, not knowing what he could do to possibly comfort Bunnie. Tails and Antoine just held back, not sure how to help either.

“T-that!” Snively shouted suddenly. “A polarity shift! The robot’s body modified the field. I didn’t know this could happen!” he squealed, still desperate. Then he started to adjust controls again.

“You said this was secure, Snively!” Sally snapped violently.

Sir Charles actually waved for her to calm down. “There was no precaution further he could have taken, Sally. Please calm down for now. We have to think…”

She sagged, tilting her head to Bunnie’s. The rabbit-woman was a mess, staring out at nothing, water pouring down her face. It had been too sudden, too fast. It couldn’t be over that fast. Not without any warning, not so fast she couldn’t even see it properly. He had to be okay… he had to be coming back any second, just as fast.

Snively glanced back, seeing her. He wasn’t the type of man to sympathize very much, but he did know that the clear emotional trauma she was going through would mean nothing good for him. “…I may be able to reverse the effect, but I must reactivate the protocols.”

Sally looked up at him. “Do it then!”

“After what just happened I can’t be sure anything is safe!”

“Do it,” Sir Charles said firmly. “Organic forms shouldn’t be affected even with a reversal of the forces. Every second has incalculable value in this kind of problem, Snively. You know that.”

Decided, Snively reactivated the device. The beam shot out again, hitting the portal. The wave went out, shimmering… and revealed the path of distortion that had struck Metic.

A ball of light formed abruptly, searing out, burning the ground beneath it, crackling violently… and then something heavy crashed down out of it, cracking the ground.

Snively shut everything down immediately, everyone staring… at Metic.

But something was wrong.

The robot crouched there in the damaged cement and metal was battered, his plating arranged a little differently, his optics a bit dimmer. Parts of his armor was chipped even, and his blade-fins seemed… rusted?

Everyone was frozen, Bunnie the only one to move by slowly rising to her feet out of Sally’s arms. Something was so obviously different that fear was turning into a painful vice in her chest.

He didn’t move the same. His optics slowly panned from side to side, tight, suspicious. Slowly, ominously, he rose to his feet. Once upright, his optics resting on Bunnie, he seemed to calm slightly. The darkness in his expression softened to a distant curiosity. “…Strange that I would dream of this again…” Even his voice sounded different, damaged, more obviously synthetic.

Bunnie eased closer. “M-Metic…?”

Sir Charles was growing wary, and glanced to Sonic. Sonic nodded slowly, easing out to the side, ready to run at Metic…

Metic, however, tilted his head as he looked at Bunnie. “…So vivid. Yes… you’re her…” His optics smiled gently, carefully. “At least I can remember this then…”

Tears started to trickle down her cheeks again as she came in front of him. “Metic… darlin’? …Yer scarin’ me…” she admitted weakly, her voice a tight whisper.

Metic’s optics, strangely, glanced to Antoine, who was startled, anxious, but saw the… pain? In the robot’s expression. He focused back on Bunnie. “I am sorry, Bunnie. I do not mean to frighten you. I simply know I am dreaming…”

Everyone stopped again, sharing worried, but less frightened looks. Now they were concerned, not wary. Sally finally eased up onto her feet. Bunnie tilted her head, her eyes tight with her own concern. “Dreamin’…? You… You think yer dreamin’, sugar-bot?” she asked gently, smiling for him, keeping her manner light, soft.

He nodded. “Though I must confess this dream is most vivid… I haven’t seen you in so long… Not like this.” Wistfulness drifted across his mechanical features. Sorrow started to form. “…I have missed being close to you… I can tell you that here…”

Bunnie knew it was her Metic. She knew by the gentleness in his optics, dim as they were, the tone of his damaged voice. And now, the way he moved before her, she recognized him. “…But when ya wake up, ya can’t?” she offered softly, easing forward another step.

Metic shook his head slowly. “It would disturb the Bunnie I know in the waking world. Her husband and children care for her very much.”

Everyone was struck with bewilderment, even Bunnie herself this time. “H-husband and children…?”

“Yes,” he affirmed, still gently smiling, but seeming… so tired. “You are very happy with them.”

Swallowing a lump in her throat, Bunnie slowly reached out… and placed her hand at his heart, the heart of the man with the body of a robot.

Metic stopped, his blade-fins idly spinning a single revolution, barely making a sound, his optics flickering. He faltered back half a step, but not from fright. It more seemed that his entire system had been jolted, like a normal organic getting a shock of electricity. His hands were open and down to the sides. Touch had broken through his perception of a dream. Her touch… “S-so… vivid.”

Bunnie felt fear rising in her heart again, fear that he would be too damaged to think clearly, to realize she was really the Bunnie he loved…

Metic’s optics gained more life, his respirator cycling heavily, and he looked down from her eyes, to the hand at his chest. “R-real…?” he looked back up to her eyes, his face slack, his body trembling.

Snively eased against the far wall. If the blasted robot didn’t snap out of his stupor soon, he was dead, he knew it. The others were transfixed, Sir Charles desperately trying to think what could explain Metic’s behavior… and appearance. He seemed… aged.

Bunnie just nodded for her beloved robot, fear softening her gaze with tears, and she reached up with her other hand. It trembled as it gently caressed Metic’s faceplate.

Metic seemed to be lost at her touch, his optics blankly staring up into nothing as his head tilted to her hand. One of his cracked, slightly rusted hands reached up, holding her hand to his face gently. Bunnie knew he was waking up, the real Metic, the man she knew. His hand said all the right things to her again.

Then the poor machine fell to his knees, shaking like a leaf. Bunnie quickly ducked down with him, supporting him. “Metic!” she cried out with startled panic. Everyone jerked forward a step to help if needed.

But he just looked up into her eyes, still shaking, his optics wide and anguished as his right hand reached up toward her face hesitantly. “Y-you… are not married to Antoine?”

Antoine’s face turned red, his eyes bulging. Everyone stared at him abruptly, and he rapidly shook his head, unable to even squeak or gasp. Bunnie herself almost jerked back with the bewildering question. “T-ta… Antoine!? M-Metic why on Mobius would I marry Antoine?” She cringed, looking back at her other friend. “No offense, darlin’.”

“None taken, mademoiselle!” Antoine squeaked, desperate for the issue to go away… far away.

Metic was in a true state of shock, emotional shock as Bunnie looked back to him. “Y-you… are not married to… anyone yet?”

She was blushing despite her fear for him at this point. “N-no… sugar-bot. I’m… I’m not r-ready ta get married just yet. I-I mean… My stars, Metic, you and I only jus’ started datin’! Yer my first real boyfriend!” she offered with a little laugh. If he would just smile, or wink, or give his stoic little nod like he always did… Anything but this… stunned anguish.

“J-just… started…” he whispered her words, and finally seemed to take in his surroundings with his optics, his hand sinking down. “This place.” His gaze found hers again. “H-how… long was I gone?”

Bunnie held him steady, one of her hands petting his shoulder. “Just… just a few minutes, Metic. Ya gave us a right scare!” she forced a weak laugh.

“…A few minutes,” he said distantly, looking into her eyes with growing wistfulness. “…I am home?”

She finally burst out with a sob and, “ _Yes_!” With an arm wrapped tightly around him, she reached in, caressing his metal cheek, tears pouring from her eyes. “Yer home, darlin’! I love ya… I love ya so much! Please don’t keep scarin’ me like this?”

Metic finally accepted it, and he gasped, his systems rushing. “Bunnie!” His hand rose up once more, but just hovered at the edge of her cheek, not touching yet, but shivering with the need to hold her. “I love you!”

Bunnie rushed closer, clamping her arms around him like a vice as she sobbed into his neck. “Jus’ put yer arms around me already!”

And he did. He wrapped her in an embrace as tight as he dared, the same force she had told him to use… so long ago for him. His optics shut off and he rocked backward, holding her to him, her ears limp down his back as she sobbed with relief and joy at having him back, realizing he had gone through something terrible when all she’d suffered was a terrible scare for barely a few minutes.

Sally herself was in tears watching, Sonic joining her to hold her. It was a deeply intimate moment for the pair kneeling, embraced on the ground, but all their friends were relieved to see that whatever had happened to Metic… he still loved Bunnie as they all knew he had. It was their friend, he had come back… but from what?

When Bunnie pulled back only to kiss Metic on the face-plate, holding his cheeks with both of her hands as if were the last chance she would ever have, their friends finally turned away, realizing the poor woman was too grateful to have Metic back to hesitate just because they were there, but not wanting to intrude. Sonic and Sally ushered them all out of the command-center to give the pair some real privacy.

Metic’s hands supported her, keeping her close, pressing to her back and cradling her neck as his head tilted for her. He would have wept from the beauty of her affection, how sincerely she shared her warmth with him despite his rigid, cruel structure. A part of him said he should release her, press her back before she was hurt, but he needed her love so desperately in that moment. More than any of their friends, or Bunnie herself could realize, he needed her affection.

For as long as she held to him, he held to her, his metal frame trembling. Her nose breathed along his cheek. The woman he adored was almost panting with her relief and emotional trauma. Her arms trembled just like his, but her fingers held fast to his rigid plating, not letting go, refusing to pull away. Something had hurt the man she loved, something had nearly broken his heart. She needed to heal it, she needed him to know she loved him.

Shaking as her lips softly parted from his faceplate, ignoring the bitter taste of metal on her lips, she stroked and petted his cheeks, her ears hanging down the back of her head. “I love you,” she breathed, looking straight into his softly glowing optics, which were looking up at her with near reverent appreciation. “I’m with you,” she reaffirmed. “I’m with you…” she sank around him in a fresh hug as she repeated it.

His arms came up, holding her close again. “…Thank you… I have missed you. I have been lost without you. Please forgive me for holding so tight.”

Bunnie had to laugh around her fresh sob. “I-I’m glad yer holdin’ me tight, Metic…”

He risked caressing his cheek across the side of her head, his optics shutting off, and she squeezed with her arms. “… Ya know this ain’t a dream now, right?” she asked gently.

“Yes,” he breathed. “Thank you so much… I know it has only been a few moments for you, please forgive me. I have missed you so…”

“Nothin’ ta forgive, darlin’.” She just held him tight, ignoring the uncomfortable ridges pressing into her front, squeezing her hands to keep her arms from going to sleep clamped around his knobby body as they were.

This time, he held her as long as he dared, but he was still the one who released first… after a solid three minutes. “You are so kind… please, my love. I have made you uncomfortable for too long.”

Bunnie eased back slowly, stopping before she really stood up to smile warmly for him, and then she rose up and away from him. Metic rose to his feet, and just looked at her… admiring her beauty, her love, her goodness. “…I don’t deserve you.”

She pouted, cooing gently. Leaning close, she kissed his cheek in a soft manner, her ears perking back up. “Well I think ya deserve me jus’ fine, sugar… Now… do ya need some kind a-help?” she asked sincerely, just more calm and even in her emotions.

“I am… functional for now,” he whispered, still savoring the brief touch of her kiss on his cheek.

“Can ya… Can ya tell us what happened ta you?” She wasn’t sure if she was afraid of the answer or not…

Metic nodded. “I will tell you all I can, Bunnie.”

She took his hand, pulling him along. “Come on. The others were mighty scared by you vanishin’ on us, too. Let’s tell everyone!”

At last, his optics smiled as he almost stumbled after her. “Of course.”

Bunnie smiled back at him so beautifully, the deepest relief filling her heart to see that simple smile and hear that warm voice. He was back… and she wanted to know just what he had been through.

* * *

Snively’s lab had a briefing-room, with a long table and plenty of chairs between the pale blue-gray walls. The whole group that had been present for the frightening event was there, and Bunnie sat next to Metic as he explained what had happened to him.

He had apparently been blasted into an alternate dimension. There things had gone very differently during the war with Robotnik, and a new war had broken out, one that spread into space, with advanced weaponry and terrible battles. It had taken Metic time to adapt once he met the alternate versions of his friends from his own reality, and he had no way of getting himself home with any certainty. He joined their war. The Bunnie there had married Antoine long before he arrived, and they had a family together, but she was so like the Bunnie he knew…

Metic clearly did not tell them everything he went through, but everyone got the idea. It had been a long time for Metic… a very long time. No one, not even Sally, knew how to properly sympathize with him. It had only been a few minutes for them… It was difficult to even comprehend what their friend had just gone through.

Metic finished his story simply, “I had recently come to accept that I was stuck there. I could not retrieve a fresh Power Ring to recharge myself after a few major battles, so I did not repair myself beyond necessity to avoid draining myself too far,” he looked down at his damaged body. “I can only assume that they will presume I died in an explosion there. I… wish I could have warned them.”

Bunnie gripped his arm, his eyes tight. “Should… we not ‘ave tried? Did you… Were ya happy there, Metic?”

His optics smiled for her. “I was lost without you… and there was no way to control or notify me of the return. Clearly, the time-dilation was extreme. I can not blame anyone here for the circumstances.” He looked over to Snively. “My metal body caused an anomaly in the field, correct?”

Snively nodded rapidly. “Y-yes! I… I didn’t know it was even possible, please believe me!”

Metic shook his head. “I am not blaming you, Snively. I have been going over the event in my mind… for a long time.” He looked back to Bunnie. “I tried… I tried to come home, I swear I did.”

Bunnie held his cheek, and pulled him to her shoulder to embrace him. “Hush now, darlin’… I know ya did everythin’ ya could. For those new friends, and us back here. Don’tcha worry… jus’ relax, please… You’ve been through too much.”

Sally gripped Sonic’s hand under the table as she saw the sincere, deep gratitude in Metic’s mechanical body for Bunnie’s gentle words and touch. She didn’t want to imagine going through what Metic had just faced… alone. Her husband smiled at her gently, and then looked across the table. “Metic, it sounds like you need some fresh juice all the same. I’ll go grab ya a fresh Ring!”

Easing apart from Bunnie, the two sharing a smile for a heart-beat further, Metic tipped his head to Sonic. “I would be grateful, but I can go to the pool myself as well, Sonic.”

Sonic waved it down. “Don’t even worry about it. I say we all get back to the palace where we can relax, and I’ll go grab a Ring for Metic. Sound good?”

Everyone was quick to agree, even Snively, and Sally kissed Sonic’s cheek for his kind help to the hurt robot.

Just before they all headed out, Snively promising to do more research on his effort, Sir Charles and Rotor did a check over Metic’s systems, and confirmed he was simply drained of power. It was clear Metic would be fine, he was simply a little battered and tired in his own way, and so they set out with Sir Charles rebuilt cruiser. Bunnie never left Metic’s side, and she usually held one of his hands with both of hers as they sat together. Metic just admired her beautiful face as he let himself rest at last, and she smiled for him, leaning back with him, their foreheads resting together. Even Tails thought they looked adorable together.

* * *

Metic sat in Rotor’s lab at the palace, flexing his hand in front of his optics, enjoying the simple sensation of having a full-charge once again. Sonic had gotten it to him in less than half an hour since their departure from Snively’s lab, and most of that time had been the ship-travel to the palace for Metic himself. He looked fully restored, his armored body shining and clean, his optics bright, his blade-fins sharp and loose for spinning at will.

The heavy door gave an electronic signal (knocking wouldn’t necessarily be heard through it), and Metic walked over, opening the door. His optics smiled fondly for Bunnie, who returned one of her own gloriously warm smiles.

“And don’tcha look fit as a fiddle?” Bunnie began happily. “Ya all set? Still need ta rest up a bit?”

Metic shook his head, his smile staying in his optics. “I am quite recovered thanks to the power-ring, Bunnie.”

Bunnie reached out, her smile turning gentle, and Metic reached up to hold her hand. She winked, and pulled him out of the lab-room. “Come on. You an’ I need ta spend some time together.”

He was glad she was looking forward while his face-plate stained crimson, but his smile never faded.

When he realized where Bunnie was leading him, the emotions threatened to overwhelm him. She didn’t know how precious these memories had been to him during his absence from home, how much they had sustained him.

It was the garden, where they confessed their love and kissed for the first time. _…Where she kissed me_ , he reminded himself calmly.

They sat down together on a stone-bench, facing the little pond. Bunnie kept his hand in hers (both of hers…), and just smiled at him for a moment. She watched his expression soften with almost shy gratitude. From the war with Robotnik, she knew that smiles, smiles for him, meant more to him than they did for a normal person. It was a symbol to him, and one he had sacrificed and risked so much to see that she wanted him to have it. And seeing the effect on him yet again, her smile only brightened. It was a treasure for her, to know that something as simple as her smile could affect him so much.

To avoid giving him a nasty shock when her smile faded, she looked down to their hands together first, then turned serious before she spoke. “…I can’t even imagine how much ya suffered… bein’ alone like that. I thought I’d never been so scared, but it was just a few minutes fer me…”

“The kindness you showed me sustained me when everything else seemed lost,” he said gently, bringing his other hand over to rest on theirs as well.

She blushed gently, bashful and grateful for the truth of his words. “…I haven’t given ya much kindness, Metic. Not compared ta…”

Metic shook his head softly. “You have done more for me than you may ever know, Bunnie.” Then his own optics turned serious. “…I must confess something to you.”

When she realized he had been gone for a long period of time, a fear had formed. A fear that the poor man had decided to move on. How could she blame him? He’d been taken away from everything he knew, tossed into a war, a world where she was already married with children. She swallowed, shaking her head. “It wouldn’t’ve been fair a-me to ask ya to wait in a situation like that, darlin’…” She forced a smile, “Who was the lucky gal?”

Metic’s expression fell with bewildered surprise. “…N-no!” he spoke with emphasis rather than raising his voice, his hand rising up to cup her cheek. “No, Bunnie, I did not choose another with my affections. I do not think I can.”

It was a deep, deep relief, but at the same time, such a tragic statement. Could he never love someone else? What if the worst happened, an accident, and she died? Would he just… stop? “But… ya must’ve been so hurt, Metic. I… I’d understand…”

He nodded. “You would. You would break your heart for my sake to show empathy, Bunnie. That is why I could not. I knew you were not hurt or dead. I had simply been forcibly moved somewhere so truly distant I had no practical method of return… but I could not justify betraying you in such a terrible way. Not after you accepted me despite every reason not to, not after you were willing to consider having me as cold metal and still maintain a relationship with me. That action offered your future up to me. I had to return that. I still must. No, my confession is… Being away from you for so long turned it into a terrible ache, that I had hidden it from you. I swore that if I ever had the chance, even just a moment of time, I would tell you.”

Now she was confused, and a bit worried, but completely unsure what to expect. “…W-well… tell me then, darlin’…”

“I was… I have been working with Uncle to try and become organic here.”

Bunnie’s eyes widened. “…That’s why he’s been…” She shot up to her feet, a mixture of outrage and panic on her face. “Metic! You coulda been killed! That’s terribly dangerous, and ya know it!”

Metic nodded, bowing his head. “I did not tell you because I knew you would stop me. I began it because I can not bear to prevent you from having the warmth you deserve, from even having children with a man you love, should you wish to maintain our relationship to that point. I had to try… but after losing you--feeling that I had lost you--I knew it was awful to hide it from you. I had to tell you… even though you would stop me.”

Bunnie’s surge of emotion softened immediately. It was just plain difficult to stay angry or frustrated with this man. Everything he did, even hiding something from her, was because he wanted to do what he thought was best for her. She quickly sat down with him again, putting her arm around his shoulders, her other hand gently touching to his front. “…Metic, I love you. That means I have ta accept you, or I was lyin’ when I said it. Your metal body isn’t a _problem_ you need ta fix jus’ ta be with me. My stars, darlin’! Maybe it’s a problem fer you that I’m not a robot like you? Why are you the one that has ta do everythin’ to yerself instead a-me?”

He gently shook his head. “You are kind to make such a point, but it is not the case. Your warmth is… beautiful to me. Even though I can not feel it the way you feel warmth, I can sense enough, and the memory of the warmth you have given me is what sustained me. Your smile… your gentle touch despite how cold I am… your willingness to lie with me on your couch, even though it hurt you…”

Her shoulders sank gently, and she just tipped her forehead to his. It was rather like resting her head against a hard table-top, but she ignored that. “…It’s important ta you… bein’ able to hold me like a normal person… isn’t it?”

“Yes,” he whispered, his optics off.

Bunnie firmed herself, and reached up, holding the back of his neck with one hand, still hugging him to her with the other arm. “…Alright, listen…”

His head gently tilted for her. He was listening.

Squeezing her eyes shut, hoping to all she held dear that she wasn’t making a terrible mistake, she said, “…Let’s keep workin’ with Uncle Chuck to help ya become organic, but ya gotta do one important thing different fer me, okay?”

“Anything.”

It was so painfully honest from him. She could have asked him to fly into the sun and he would. “…Tests and scans, sure, but you don’t do anythin’ that risks yer life, okay? If Uncle Chuck thinks it’ll work, that’s good enough fer me. I know we can’t get away from the risks completely, but no stupid risks, okay? Don’t rush it. Please, Metic, don’t rush it.” Gentle tears were seeping out of her eyes.

“As you wish,” he whispered for her, and reached up, gently embracing her. Bunnie wrapped her arms around him tightly, squeezing him close. He patted her back and stroked her fur. “…Thank you for letting us continue.”

Bunnie sobbed gently. “…Yer just tryin’ to do somethin’ for me anyway, Metic… I’ve never met someone like you. You jus’… do everythin’ you can, all the time.”

“Your happiness is precious to me. …The other you, with her family, was so happy. Even though I knew it already, seeing it only affirmed my conviction. You deserve that joy, that life.”

She just hugged him tight, looking over his shoulder with tears dripping from her eyes. Fear that this was a terrible mistake that would get him killed still lingered, but a little spark of hope had ignited as well. Maybe, just maybe, they could share that life after all.

* * *

Snively had never been more frustrated in his life. He was finally trying to do the ‘right’ thing according to everyone around him, and it just kept blowing up in his face. Everything _seemed_ calm enough with the robot safely returned, but there had clearly been a temporal dilation between this dimension and wherever he got spit out, so who was to say how angry the robot actually was? Snively had been with Dr. Robotnik when he unveiled those machines, those metal Sonics… and the version that had become Metic had always especially haunted his nightmares. That sound his blade-fins made… It was like a howl from hell itself.

It had to be finished. He was carefully recording everything he did this time, and he did careful scans of materials affected by dimensional emanations from the portal chamber. So desperate to get it done now that it had blown up once already, Snively actually called in Uncle Chuck, Rotor, and Garas to help make sure it got done. Working together, they fired it up again, and this time nothing went wrong.

Garas stood back, Sir Charles, Rotor, and Snively wearing protective goggles as they looked through the window into the portal chamber as the beam from the special array fired out, and struck the portal.

This time it all swirled into a writhing blue-green mass. Snively observed the data as the roar of energies reached through the window. “…Confirming event-horizon disruption… data indicates seventy-five-percent seal… seventy-six… seventy-seven…”

Painstakingly but constantly, the portal began to shrink down as the beam narrowed further and further. Sir Charles nodded slowly. _It just might do it…_

And at last, the beam and portal winked out of existence. The portal chamber was silent and still.

Rotor grinned. “Looks good!”

Sir Charles turned to Snively. “Final test then. We try and re-open the portal.”

Snively tipped his head, and adjusted the controls. “Commencing portal re-activation.”

Garas, already hunched over just to be in the room, peered out as the portal-ring gave a flicker and a dying moan.

Snively frowned. “Hm, power was insufficient. Boosting with reserves.”

Another flicker and moan.

Garas raised his hand to stop Snively from adding any more power. “It worked.” He stood up as much as he could looking to the two of them. “Normal means will no longer create a portal. I don’t see how else we can test it…”

Rotor shook Snively’s hand. “At the very least, it’ll be a lot tougher for Naugus to come through now.”

Snively finally eased with a weak smile. “Do you think… this will please the Queen?”

Sir Charles chuckled as he pulled his goggles off. “I think it just might, Snively. Come on, we’ll fly you to the palace to report.”

“Thank you, sah!”

Garas chuckled for himself as he followed the three out. With a little glance back, he shook his head. _Good riddance, Naugus._


	10. Warmth

Rather than just giving her permission, Bunnie decided to become an active helper in Metic and Sir Charles’ attempt to ‘organicize’ her dear robot. Metic was deeply grateful for her participation, as it, more than anything else, appeased his guilt for hiding it from her originally. Sir Charles learned first-hand just how long Metic had been gone to his own perspective when the robot offered new information and ideas to help with the process from his research and the friends he made in the other dimension. Due to being in a war, Metic had opted not to attempt any changes in the other dimension.

After a couple of weeks of work together, it seemed they had a workable prototype. It was a large machine, with a small cylinder chamber where Metic could stand, his feet directly over one field-array, the ceiling of the chamber the other array. It would seal around him with durable (but not indestructible) glass. The final fail-safe to an emergency was Metic breaking himself out, so Sir Charles kept that in mind for the actual transformation chamber.

It was late in the evening of the last day of those two weeks when the three of them agreed to make the first full attempt at changing Metic. Sir Charles gave the two a moment as he went to the side of the machine to prepare the final protocols.

Bunnie ran a hand down the side of Metic’s faceplate. “We can wait ‘til tomorra, darlin’. We don’t need ta rush it…” The gentle fear of the worst case was clear in her emerald eyes. She was in a work-suit, open down the front to expose her gray shirt underneath it, a little bit of oil and dust smudging her fur and clothes, but she looked as beautiful as ever to her robot.

Metic held her hand to his face softly for a moment. “Waiting for the morning does not diminish the risks in any way, Bunnie. If, however, you can’t accept the risk that remains, I will not do this. I won’t betray you like that again. Never again.”

She pouted at him, her eyes watering a bit. “You didn’t betray me, Metic… ya just scared the daylights out a-me. Uncle Chuck thinks it’s good ta go, as best we can, so I’m not gonna fight him on it. If yer sure, I’m sure, sugar-bot.”

“Thank you, Bunnie. For understanding.”

A tearful smile grew on her lips. “Jus’ don’t forget to bust yourself out if somethin’ goes wrong, okay?”

Letting her hand down finally, he nodded in a grave manner. “Absolutely. Certain risks are worth it to me, but I certainly intend to live to love you rather than die in an accident, Bunnie.”

His choice of words, and simple directness… she loved it. It was just so… Metic. Steeling herself for his sake, really, she gave a calm nod. “Let’s get this puppy rollin’. Uncle Chuck?”

“We’re ready to go,” the elder hedgehog declared calmly. “It’s all on you, Metic. I’ll start ‘er up for you once you step onto the transformation chamber’s flooring.”

Metic touched Bunnie’s shoulder, giving her a final, meaningful look, whispering, “I love you.”

She mouthed, “I love you, too,” and hurried to join Uncle Chuck before she lost her nerve.

Calmly marching up to the open cylinder, Metic gave Uncle Chuck a nod, and stepped into the space, turning around to face outward. Bunnie stood back, watching fretfully as Sir Charles activated the controls, made some adjustments, and finally raised a large lever up to full.

The two arrays in the chamber glowed with bright blue light as a building hum filled the entire lab. Bunnie clenched her hands into white-knuckled fists beneath her fur, swallowing thickly. _I don’t care if it doesn’t work, but please,_ _ **please**_ _bring him out alright. Please…_ she squeezed her eyes shut.

In a rush, the light engulfed Metic. He shuddered, his systems flaring with danger-signs as his frame jerked, his back arching. He couldn’t see or sense anything, but the overload burning through him was equivalent to excruciating pain.

Then his body registered fundamental and extreme damage to his entire exterior armor, rapidly eating into his more vital systems. His right arm was especially burning and warping, though he could see nothing to confirm the report in his internal systems. _…It’s not working!_

With a building shout, he rammed his fist through the cylinder’s surface, and then leapt free himself, shattering the transparent material out across the lab. Bunnie shielded herself on instinct, and Sir Charles immediately snapped the power down to zero. Before the light had even started to fade, the rabbit-woman was leaping across the lab, toward the crouched, steaming shadow near the far wall.

“Metic!?”

Sir Charles moved forward, but waited, anxious and watching.

The robot looked.. charred for lack of a better term. Still smoking slowly, he snapped a damaged, silver hand out toward Bunnie to stop her approach. “I… am unsafe to touch… for a moment more…” His voice was badly distorted and warped with damage as well.

Bunnie held her hands to her mouth, tears dripping from her eyes. “Metic… please tell me yer gonna be okay?”

His respirator cycled heavily for a moment, and then he tried to stand up. He quickly stumbled back onto his backside with a thunk of metal on concrete, but he nodded over at her. He was battered, scorched, but functional, his optics bright and clear. Bunnie rushed closer, kneeling at his side. He was still almost scalding to touch, but she chanced it to help him sit up while his systems recovered. “Aw, darlin’… yer a mess…”

“Y-you’ll burn yourself, Bunnie,” he said gently, trying to get her to let go of him without touching her more. It was an almost comically adorable moment to see the robot’s chief concern be her hands when his entire body resembled a barbecue pit that hadn’t been cleaned in a decade.

Bunnie finally just giggled at him, relaxing back down, letting her hands fall into her lap to get him to stop fidgeting. He was fine…

Sir Charles finally joined them, leaning down on Metic’s other side. “Well… off-hand I’d say that was a miserable failure, but did you notice anything of importance, Metic?”

The still-smoking robot shrugged where he sat. “I registered a systemic affect, yes, but my systems soon realized I was taking damage more than altering. I broke out before I risked too much harm to my body. Apparently my right arm took the brunt of it…” he trailed off, lifting the scorched limb up, analyzing it with detached curiosity.

Bunnie glanced at it herself, more just out of pity for how banged up he was, but her eyes locked on a patch of… frayed metal? “…y’all, what’s this?” she muttered, leaning closer, pointing at the little patch directly.

Thanks to his robotic joints, Metic was able to completely rotate his arm to reveal the place in question to his own optics and Sir Charles’ peering eyes. “…A very strange damage-pattern, you are right,” Metic said simply first, considering it nothing more than an idle oddity in the specifics of how his metal shell had been scoured by the energy.

Sir Charles’ eyes widened, however. “Metic! That’s fur!”

Metic and Bunnie both blinked up at him, and then they focused back on the black patch on his arm. It was small, barely enough to run a finger-tip over, but Bunnie gently touched it with hers, brushing it back and forth.

“My stars…” she breathed. “He’s right, darlin’… this is real fur! Black as your metal, but soft! It’s like… the metal was turned into it directly.”

Metic tilted his head, and ran his own fingertip over it. “…I sense no abnormal tactile sensation. It is, indeed, a purely superficial change.”

“And probably still metallic in core components,” Sir Charles added with a little nod. “But this means it was working! Let me scan this, son! We might have a shot at this yet!”

* * *

It did not take much convincing to get a simple scan from Metic. Bunnie and the robot stood by as Sir Charles told his computer to compile the data properly, and feed him the results he was looking for. Leaning in at his screen, the old genius nodded, starting to smile. “This is even better than I had hoped. The residual energy in the metallic fur almost entirely explains why the change didn’t work properly. Metic,” he said, turning around in his chair, “if you give me the time to rebuild the machine, I think I can implement this in a matter of hours…”

Metic’s optics lit-up with hope for the first time since Sir Charles had known the unique machine. Bunnie, however, grew worried. “Again…? S-so soon, Uncle Chuck?”

“Well… we don’t have to, no, Bunnie,” the elder hedgehog said calmly, but he looked from her to Metic in a manner that indicated she should look at him as well.

She turned, and saw the hope vanish from the robot’s gaze as he looked to her himself. “…I won’t scare you again. If you want to postpone, we will.”

Bunnie’s heart nearly broke. Sir Charles had been right with his little look… she was twisting Metic around, pulling him away from his own hopes just because she was scared. He was alright, and Sir Charles would make it as safe as possible, she knew all of that, but seeing him fly out of the cylinder, smoking…

“…N-no… Metic. I’m sorry, darlin’. I’m bein’ silly.” She flashed a wan smile. “We’ll try it as soon as Uncle Chuck says it’s ready.”

Metic touched her arm. “Bunnie, you have been so supportive. I don’t want to strain your heart with this. Uncle, perhaps you wish to do more tests of the updated energy patterns?” he asked calmly of the old genius.

Nodding his understanding, Sir Charles said, “Yeah, Metic. That’s a solid idea…”

Bunnie sighed. “Stop it, both of ya. Uncle Chuck, do what ya need ta do. If ya think it’s ready, contact us. I’m gonna take Metic out and spend some time with ‘im while we wait.”

Uncle Chuck grinned. “Sounds good. I’ll take care of it, you two.”

Metic smiled with his optics sincerely for both of them, and then shook Sir Charles’ hand. Before he joined Bunnie to leave, he asked, “Would healing my current damage throw off your calculations, Uncle?”

“Not at all, son. Heal up. I’ll contact you when it’s ready, like I said. I might run into a hurdle or two after all, so if it gets too late, just get Bunnie on to bed.”

With a flash of white power, Metic was virtually himself again, and joined Bunnie in thanking the old hedgehog one more time before they walked out, sharing a warm smile. Sir Charles grinned at their departure, and then turned back to the console. “Let’s get crackin’…”

* * *

It was getting toward nighttime, but they walked leisurely together near the city’s central park. The streets around the park were quiet already, most of the business and recreation centers focused further North. It let the pair walk along, hands held, peacefully. Bunnie was as quiet as Metic this time, each of them just wanting to savor the time together.

Bunnie couldn’t shake her troubled thoughts, however. Seeing that flash of light, seeing him smoking from damage had made all of her fears about this work surge back to life after her promise to let him try. All of this… just to lose him forever? She looked down and away, her eyes squeezing shut.

Metic stopped their walk, turning to her, his hand releasing hers to rest on her shoulder. He carefully measured the pressure to be as light as a feather in touching her. “You are very anxious about this… You wish for us to stop?”

Bunnie turned to him, looking into his optics despite the sadness and fear in her eyes. “Metic… I promised ya we’d keep tryin’, and I said I’d trust Uncle Chuck’s sayin’ it’s safe enough. I remember all the things you’ve said ta me about this, but I have to stop ya here, and ask ya somethin’.”

He tipped his head, his neck clicking faintly. “Of course. Anything.”

Her hands reached up, and held the sides of his face. “Turnin’ you into an organic is dangerous, risky, and we’re jus’ plain not sure about it, darlin’, but there is somethin’ we know, somethin’ that’s fer sure.”

His optics tightened, but he did not interrupt her.

“Sugar-bot… I can be roboticized.”

Her optics flared. “Bunnie! No, I will not allow that. I can not--!?”

Bunnie held his cheeks fast, her eyes gazing deeply into his. “Stop! Listen… I’m not gonna jus’ rush off and do it on ya, but please listen?”

He calmed immediately for her. “Yes… I am sorry. I did not mean to override you…”

His way of talking… she had to smile a bit, patting his cheek with one of her hands, letting them both slip down to his shoulders before she spoke again. “…It’s safe, Metic. We know it works, and that it can be reversed. It’s jus’ not fair a-me to leave ya to do all of the changin’ and dangerous experiments. I… I can be metal _with_ you…”

Entirely serious and sincere, Metic reached up, his metal fingers carefully resting on the sides of her neck and his thumbs on her cheeks. They were all he had to show affection, his hands, his fingers. It was the only way his emotions could reach her. “It would torture you, Bunnie. I remember your pain, your anguish when you feared you would be forever trapped with metal limbs. I remember how much you hated having metal for parts of your body. I can not ask you or allow you to do that. At least not for me.

“I couldn’t continue to function knowing I had allowed that. I love you, Bunnie. You gave me a real life, not a constructed one.” His hands softly caressed around, behind her neck, cupping it. “If either of us is going to change at all, let it be me. I can replace damaged parts, I can heal from virtually any damage with my abilities. I can withstand much of the risk… It will all be worth it, no matter how painful or damaging, if it allows me to give you just a moment of what you have already given me.”

Bunnie cried quietly, her hands trying to caress his shoulders, but she knew he couldn’t really feel it. “Yer so… so good ta me, darlin’. I jus’… After all you’ve done fer me, I could do this fer you.” Her head tilted, her ears swinging to one side, limp with her sorrow. “You’ve learned so much jus’ ta be able ta be with me. I can learn how ta be metal fer you.”

Metic gently, carefully came closer, wrapping his arms around her in his intricately calculated squeezing hug. Bunnie relaxed against him, returning the embrace, and then heard him whispering in her ear, “Please, no. Do not sacrifice that for me.”

“Metic… I hated those metal parts because I always thought they’d keep me from havin’… From havin’ _this_. From bein’ close to someone I loved. If bein’ metal means I can be closer ta you, it wouldn’t hurt me, darlin’. I swear it.”

His head gently shook, mindful of hurting her own so close. “Your heart is so warm, dearest Bunnie. I can not bear to see it wreathed in metal. Please, my love, do not sacrifice this for me.”

Bunnie exhaled as fresh tears trickled down her cheeks, and she squeezed her hug tight, knowing she really _couldn’t_ hurt him like this. He knew not to squeeze any harder than he already was. “…I love ya so much, Metic… You say all the stuff I don’t even expect ta hear, and ya make it sound so… so… perfect. I can’t lose ya, darlin’. Please, I’m so scared. I can’t lose ya…”

His optics shut off, his facial articulation clenching with anguish. “…Please forgive me for frightening you. I will contact Uncle. We will stop the experiments at once.”

She eased back, and he released her to let her do so immediately. Looking into her eyes, he saw sad surprise, and, strangely, guilt. “You’d… give anythin’ up fer me… Anythin’.”

Metic tilted his head. “Is that not what it means to love someone? You have just offered me the same, Bunnie. To give up your very body just for my sake. I never wish to frighten you. If these experiments do that to you, I must stop them.”

Controlling a sob, pressing her lips between her teeth, she reached up, caressing his faceplate. “But ya told me… how important it is ta you. Ta hold me in warm arms. I’m breakin’ yer heart askin’ ya to stop…”

His hand came up to hold hers. “I’m breaking yours by trying to do it.”

She shook her head, and eased closer, kissing his cold faceplate gently. His head tilted to her beautiful show of affection. When she broke the kiss, she whispered, “You’ve broken your heart enough fer me, darlin’. It’s my turn to take on some a-this burden. If Uncle Chuck feels confident about this new set-up he’s got goin’… Let’s do it.”

“Bunnie, I do not wish to frighten you. I will stop it all…”

She nodded, easing back to just look at him. “I know ya would, darlin’. Without a bit a-hesitation, too, but this is important ta you. I need ta stand by ya for it.”

A soft beep interrupted them before another word could be said. Bunnie blushed, but pulled the little comm device out of her pocket. “…It’s Uncle Chuck,” she said with a nervous smile, and turned it on. “Hey there, Uncle Chuck!”

“Bunnie,” he began warmly, “is Metic still with you?”

She smiled at him, and the robot said, “I am, Uncle.”

“Perfect then. I have wonderful news. I believe this device is ready, and I’m supremely confident in it. Bunnie, I think this one will be quite safe. My pre-tests have all worked without a bit of harm. If you two are prepared, we can try at once.”

The two looked at each other. Metic smiled with his optics, and gestured to Bunnie. At the last moment… he was leaving it up to her. Bunnie smiled at him tearfully, and then raised the device to her lips. “We’re comin’ in Uncle Chuck. Fire that puppy up.”

“Will do!” And the device beeped off.

Metic tipped his head to her. “Thank you, Bunnie.”

She kissed his faceplate softly one more time. “Jus’ don’t hesitate to break out if you start getting’ hurt, okay?”

“You have my word.”

Smiling strongly, she winked. “Mind givin’ me a lift, sugar-bot?”

He bowed playfully. “My pleasure, Bunnie.”

And with a sonic blast, they were off.

* * *

Bunnie was amazed how quickly Uncle Chuck had cleaned up the lab and rebuilt the machine. The transformation chamber was ready and waiting the moment they arrived, Uncle Chuck manning the control-console. He welcomed them back, gave Bunnie a quick hug, and then shook Metic’s hand. “Well son, are you ready for this?”

Metic nodded, giving Bunnie a meaningful glance. “We are.”

She smiled at his choice of words.

Understanding quite a bit of what was unsaid between the two of them, Sir Charles gestured to the machine. “Step right up, Metic. I have some spare clothes here for after the fact, shades of Mobius willing this works.”

“Appreciated, Uncle,” Metic replied sincerely, walking over to the transformation chamber.

“Wait!”

They both stopped as Bunnie ran up to Metic. He faced her, ready to end the whole event on her word, but she just gripped his shoulders and kissed him. His hands reached up to hold her close for the kiss, and when they parted, they shared a gentle smile.

“Jus’ come back ta me in one piece, okay?”

“I’ll break free if anything seems amiss, I promise.”

Appeased, Bunnie backed away, but continued to watch. Metic took his position, and nodded to Sir Charles near the corner of the large machine.

“Alright, here we go,” Sir Charles began, adjusting some controls.

The cylinder closed down around Metic. He seemed calm, but he and Bunnie shared another look, holding their locked gazes.

“Beginning organicize sequence,” Sir Charles announced, raising the power-level to maximum.

In a swift rush, blue-white light filled the transformation chamber. Bunnie had to avert her eyes with a wince it was so bright.

Metic immediately knew something was different this time. His systems overloaded, but his pain sensors and damaged responses didn’t trigger. It all built into an almost system-warping hum, and… then he felt warmth tingling through his core.

The light began to fade, and Bunnie focused on the cylinder immediately, her heart clenching in her chest as Sir Charles eased down on the controls. He hopped around the corner of the machine himself, watching.

The cylinder was filled with white smoke, possibly steam just before it popped open at last. The mist gushed out, and something crumpled down to the base of the chamber. Bunnie and Sir Charles shared an alarmed glance, and ran over immediately.

What they saw through the diminishing steam made them freeze in shock and flared their hope anew.

A hedgehog was curled up on the floor there. An organic, flesh and blood hedgehog. Before a panic could arise, his body flexed gently with breath, his jet-black quills shifting gently around his second tone of dark gray fur.

Bunnie’s hand came up to her slack jaw, tears in her eyes. She was still worried, afraid he might have been hurt, that he might even be dying in front of them, but at the same time thrilled at the idea it might have actually succeeded.

He groaned, his left hand slowly flexing out, stretching along the cool metal of the chamber’s base.

Realizing the poor man was naked, Bunnie controlled her blush, and hopped across the room, grabbing a sheet before she leapt back to him, and ducked down, bringing the sheet down around his body, almost like coddling a child. “Metic…?” she called breathlessly.

Sir Charles just stood, watching, seeming stunned at his own success.

The black and gray hedgehog groaned more actively, and his head tilted upward. “…Bunnie?”

It was even his same voice! Deep and strong, simply without the electronic rasp in it.

“Yes! Darlin’, I’m right here!” she exclaimed, wrapping the sheet snugly around him, starting to help lift him off the floor.

He was heavy, but she was strong, and he tried to help as well. Even so, he leaned heavily against her, both sitting on the floor. Bunnie was flushed at the closeness. He was so warm himself… and she could feel how soft his fur and quills were through the sheet already. But was anything wrong…?

At last, his eyes opened, clean and organic, with bright, red pupils in his clean-white corneas. They opened wide as he started to look around, seeing Uncle Chuck above him, and then finally focused to the side, looking right into Bunnie’s eyes as she almost sobbed with hope and partial relief.

“I have no displays in my vision,” he muttered, seeming groggy and uncoordinated.

Bunnie held him tight, slowly rocking him. “How do you feel? Do you… know what’s happening?” fear constricted her voice. Had his brain been warped by the transfer from machine to organic? Had they crippled him?

Metic blinked a few times. “I… f-feel,” and then he looked down at his own hands. Awareness donned on his face, his slim nose and thin lips fitting his sharp, overall features. He had the same tall, slim frame as his robotic body, his muscles coiled and smooth. “…It worked,” he breathed, staring at his hands, starting to brush his palms with his fingertips, a ghost of a smile forming on his lips by instinct. “…So much data…” he marveled at the sensations.

And then he finally realized what was going on. Animated, strong, he looked to Bunnie immediately, his eyes wide. “Bunnie? …It worked… I can… You are so warm…”

Bunnie sobbed with a laugh of heartfelt relief, nodding. “You’re not so chilly yerself, sugar-bo--!?” she cut herself off with a blush. “I-I’m sorry, darlin’, just a habit…”

She trailed off as he shook his head with a glowing, fond smile. “I like it when you call me that…”

Sir Charles eased back with a content smile, moving away quietly to give them a moment before he helped them get organized.

Bunnie reached up, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks before she gently caressed his face. Metic inhaled, gasping with overwhelmed shock at her touch, then tilting his head to her touch, his eyes falling closed with tears dripping out of them as well. Bunnie’s mouth hung open, seeing how deeply her simple touch affected him.

He breathed, “You… _feel_ beautiful…”

Controlling the sheer power of her own emotions, Bunnie reached around him, whispering, “Come ‘ere…” and pulled him into a powerful embrace.

Metic exhaled, his arms wrapping around her with almost desperate appreciation. “…It is beyond my fathoming… how beautiful this is. My love, thank you so much.”

She finally started to sob outright, but she was smiling as she held him tight, running her hands down his silky quills, caressing his warm back. And his soft, strong hands were gently caressing her back and neck as well. Combined with his still perfect appreciation in his gestures, his new warmth and softness was like a moment of heaven in the real world.

And then she knew exactly what she should say to him. “…This feels so nice…”

For the first time, his emotions could truly express themselves. He sobbed with a laugh of his own, tears flowing out of his red eyes as he held her close. “I am so glad… I can not imagine anything more perfect.”

Easing back just a little, Bunnie smiled into his adorably overwhelmed eyes, and she reached up with one hand, caressing his cheek again. “Can’t imagine it, huh?”

He shook his head softly.

“…How about this,” she whispered, and kissed him on his new lips.

Metic exhaled through his nose, his body shocked by the wonder of the sensation, his hands rising up to hold her, caress her, comfort her as their lips touched at last.

The thin sheet covering him started to slip down, and Bunnie blushed, breaking the kiss with a little giggle as she grabbed the sheet and held it to him again. “S-sorry, darlin’…”

He smiled at her, feeling as if he were in a dream. “How could you have ever dreamed of giving this away for me, Bunnie? I have never felt such wonderful things…”

She ran her hand back over his head-quills, watching him savor it with closed eyes. “…I think you appreciate ‘em all a lot better ‘an I could, sugar-bot,” she said with a playful giggle.

He grinned, then chuckled softly. Abruptly, he blushed, glancing down at himself. “Oh! Of course… I am not used to clothing myself. Forgive my indiscretion…” he was sincerely apologetic, realizing it must have greatly embarrassed her.

Bunnie just smiled at him, shaking her head. “You’re fine, darlin’. Hold it to yerself. I’ll help ya up on yer feet.”

And they got up together. He was a little unstable on his feet at first, but quickly found the coordination he needed. Sir Charles rejoined them with a warm smile. “Just this way. I’ll show Metic how to get the clothes on, Bunnie, if he needs any pointers.”

She blushed, but nodded. “Thank ya, Uncle Chuck.”

“Uncle?” Metic asked gently.

“Yes, son?”

Metic offered his hand. “I can never repay this debt. Thank you…”

Sir Charles warmly shook his hand. “Don’t you worry about it, son. Now come on. Let’s get you some clothes so poor Bunnie can stop blushing.”

“Uncle Chuck!”

* * *

A short time later, Metic smiled down at himself, smoothing his dark gray shirt down beneath his black jacket. He kicked the ground with his new shoes, and patted down his black cargo-pants. He felt… real. It was almost hot in this new body, and he could feel the blood rushing through his veins, the muscles and ligaments clenching and shifting, his bones creaking. His heart-beat was astonishingly loud, as was breathing, he realized. He’d had to readjust his pants twice before he realized his body expanded and contracted so much with each breath.

The door knocked gently. “Ya all dressed, sugar?”

“Yes, Bunnie,” he answered happily, facing the door. “Please come in.”

She stepped through, smiling happily, and then stood, arms akimbo, putting on a show of looking him up and down. “My stars… if ya aren’t the handsomest man on Mobius, sugar-bot.”

Metic chuckled, blushing a bit, which was now very clear on his gray cheeks. “Do I really look alright? Not worse than you hoped?”

She smirked at him, marching up. “You are one silly hedgehog, Metic.” She tussled his quills.

Metic gave a little squawk of dismay, realizing it was uncomfortable, and then blinked as Bunnie giggled violently at his reaction. He blushed, and cleared his throat, straightening his quills. “It was… uncomfortable. You surprised me.” He was glancing off in controlled embarrassment.

Bunnie just grabbed onto him with a tight hug, which he returned with a soft moan of relief. It was addicting, this wonderful warmth… her heartbeat, her breath felt so… amazing.

Blushing softly, Bunnie eased back. “My stars… that’s gonna take some gettin’ used to,” she laughed anxiously, trying to calm her blush. Truthfully, she was breathless. He held her so… passionately, but he didn’t claw at her, or make her feel threatened. It was just so… obvious that he loved having her close. That he wanted her to stay close…

He scratched the back of his head with a little laugh of his own, blushing bright. “Y-yes, that’s true. S-should I… be more careful how I touch you now? My own reactions are… astonishingly powerful,” he admitted, swallowing tightly.

Bunnie eased closer, pecking his cheek. He smiled warmly at her, grateful, and she winked. “Yer golden, sugar-bot.” She patted his arm. “I jus’ never dreamt…” She shook her head. “It’s wonderful, Metic. Ta be able ta hold ya like that. I felt so awful I couldn’t hold ya before…”

He smiled kindly, and reached up himself, caressing her cheek this time. Bunnie cooed, holding it to her face softly.

“…You are the most beautiful woman I have ever known,” he whispered.

She blushed, but smiled happily, letting his hand retreat. “…Thank you, Metic. I know ya really mean that when ya say it… It’s nice ta feel so special,” she admitted bashfully, her ears drooping with a little smile.

Metic had to pout at her adorable reaction, which, in turn, made her coo at him again, and then they both blushed and laughed.

Then another knock came to the door.

“Come in,” they both called easily, sharing a light smile for doing it together.

Sir Charles stepped inside, smiling broadly. “Well aren’t you two a pair?”

Bunnie giggled, and pulled herself close to Metic by his arm. “That’s right!”

Metic blushed at the sensations of having her clutch his arm to her own front, and swallowed thickly before smiling himself. “As Bunnie said.”

They shared a little laugh before Sir Charles spoke again. “I just wanted to inform you that I have all the data stored. The process should be reversible and repeatable, should you ever, Mobius forbid, need your robotic form again, Metic.”

Bunnie raised her eyebrows, Metic tipping his head. “That is a relief, in fact, thank you, Uncle. I know this organic body is much more fragile than my original body. If something should go wrong, I want to be able to protect Bunnie.”

She smiled gently at him when he looked at her.

Sir Charles chuckled. “So I see. I also made to back-up copies of the data, just in case. I thought you two might like to keep them.”

Bunnie finally relaxed away from Metic’s arm, realizing she was making the poor man completely distracted with his new body. “That sounds great, Uncle Chuck. Where are they?”

Smirking mischievously, Uncle Chuck held out his hand, and revealed two, reddish black rings. “Right here. You can wear them…”

Metic blinked at them, and then looked to Bunnie. She was blushing, staring at the rings, and then up at Uncle Chuck. “Ya… made them into rings?”

The elder hedgehog nodded. “That’s right, Bunnie. I thought you might like that. A little… sign of how far you two have come together.”

Uncle Chuck then dropped both of the rings into Metic’s waiting hand. “Why don’t you put the other one on her finger?” he asked with a wink.

Bunnie was glowing red, but didn’t protest as she faced Metic, who smiled softly at her. “…Bunnie, may I place this ring on your hand?”

She nodded rapidly, squeaking something unintelligible that was probably a ‘yes’. Her eyes were damp.

Metic gently slipped the data-ring onto her waiting finger, and then placed the other on his own.

Smiling softly, she pulled her ring-clad hand back to herself, cradling it with the other as if it had suddenly become precious. It was so like another kind of ring with the way Metic gave it to her…

“Bunnie?”

She looked up at Metic immediately. “Yeah?”

Metic smiled warmly, his eyes so kind. “I love you.”

Bunnie finally sobbed again, smiling, and managed, “I…love ya… too, darlin’…”

Metic pulled her into a soft, soothing hug, caressing her ears and back. Sir Charles smiled fondly at the pair of them. Bunnie was adorable with her _man_. It was almost like Sonic and Sally when they were first married…

And then Metic’s stomach growled violently, and he cringed as Bunnie pulled back with a stifled laugh.

“…That was unpleasant,” he muttered, looking down at himself.

Bunnie patted his shoulder, trying not to laugh at him. She and Sir Charles shared an amused look before she explained, “You’re hungry, darlin’. Come on. Let’s get you something ta eat.”

Metic blinked, and then went along with her. “I had no idea hunger was so… uncomfortable.”

Bunnie giggled, winking over her shoulder at Sir Charles as they walked off. The elder hedgehog just chuckled, and waved them off.

“Don’t worry, Metic. I’ll help ya figure all this organic stuff out.”

He smiled at her. “Thank you.”

“Hey, ya did this fer me. I owe ya a little help along the way, right?”

He chuckled. “As you say it, Bunnie.”

She laughed, and hugged him from the side. “Sugar-bot, you’re just too darn precious!”


	11. Epilogue: A Birthday Party

The princesses were entirely excited. It was their fifth birthday at last. The whole gang had gotten back together for the party, including some old friends from the war with Robotnik. The private residence in the palace was filled with colorful decoration, blue, pink, and white for the girls’ favorite colors. And it was just getting started.

Sally laughed as Maximilian danced around with both girls like a little boy himself, Sonic zipping around to get some last-minute party supplies out and about. Lupe, Cat, and Garas were helping finish up some decorations, while Tail flitted around with streamers, going a little crazy, but no one wanted to stop him having his fun. Sir Charles and Rotor had set up a small entertainment system to one side of the room so the girls could do whatever they liked, be it movies, games, or music (the music blasting happily that very minute).

Dulcy giggled as the girls blurred up to her, and asked for rides around the palace. Sally gave the go-ahead cheerfully, and so the dragon took the girls zipping around through the air with all her tricks and speed.

Antoine had invited his fox-woman lady-friend to get her properly introduced to everyone. Janet by name, she was tall and elegant, but also very warm and friendly. Sally thought she was adorable, especially flushed at being around the Queen and her family of heroes. The Queen made sure to give Antoine a little nudge and wink for the ‘catch’, which made him blush and laugh.

Max clapped, rolling back in his chair with laughter as Sonic did an impromptu break-dance near the music-center. Sally came over, intending to tickle him and make him fall over. She did… and then he pulled her into a childish dance, the woman laughing the whole time. Max was glad to see them so happy together.

Dulcy returned with the girls, who decided that ‘big brother Tails’ was their next target. Lita dove into him, wrestling with him as the poor young man tried to stop Cathy from putting bows on his tails.

Lupe giggled in good humor when Rotor asked her for a dance to the childish music, and she obliged him with put-on airs, the two having a lovely time. Garas felt anxious at first, then yelped when Dulcy tickled him with her tail to get him to ‘lighten up’. He smirked at her, and then bobbed his head to the music.

Cat seemed surprisingly ready for a party. Since the war he’d been acting as part of the covert-operations and intelligence system in the new government, working closely with Lupe, who coordinated much of the government for Sally. He was being stone-faced and completely silly at the same time, doing a jerking, stepping dance around the edge of the big room. Sir Charles gave him a few calls of encore whenever the poor feline tried to take a break, and finally Cat just gave the old genius a dry wave to be quiet from across the room. The old hedgehog plopped down beside Max, the two sharing a light laugh, happy to see their younger friends and family having such a wonderful time.

Max tilted his head back with a content sigh despite the loud music. “I’m surprised Bunnie and Metic aren’t here yet, I must say. Do you know what’s keeping them?”

Sir Charles chuckled. “Oh, probably just preparing a surprise of their own.”

“Oh?”

The elder hedgehog just winked.

Finally the door-signal gave a light jingle. Cathy lit up, leaving Tails’ tails be at last, “Aunt Bunnie!”

Lita gasped, and then both girls blurred for the door. Sally tried to step out to go get the door for them, but her husband playfully twirled her around into his arms, and she smirked at him before giving him a little kiss. “Naughty little hedgehog’s don’t get their cake, you know?”

He winked. “I can live without cake. I get something better,” and he kissed her again.

She blushed, but smiled, and finally got back on her feet, giving him a playful swat.

The door opened for Lita, and Bunnie grinned. “My little darlin’s!” and she immediately got down to grab them both in a huge hug, lifting them off the ground so she could walk further in. The girls giggled and cuddled close to her.

“You’re late!” Lita promptly reminded her, putting on a playful act of indignation.

Bunnie winked. “Sorry, Lita. I had ta help Metic get ready.”

“Mr. Metic came too!?” Cathy asked excitedly.

“Did you think I wouldn’t?”

It was the change in his voice that drew most everyone’s attention. Sally froze where she was walking to greet Bunnie, the others stopping short and staring.

There Metic stood, flesh and blood, in his new clothes. His smile became a bit shy, and he waved idly. “Sorry we’re late. It’s entirely my fault.” He lifted up two presents in his arms. “Didn’t want to mess up, and all that.”

Bunnie stood up with a grin for everyone.

The girls broke the stunned silence as only they could. “Mr. Metic!” and they shot over, clamping onto his legs.

Metic laughed, and put the presents down, quickly wrapping the girls up in a tight hug of his own at last.

“Wagh!” Cathy giggled. “You’re all soft now!”

Metic chuckled. “You noticed! I thought I was keeping it a secret so well, too!”

Lita laughed, and snuggled closer. Metic’s smile turned soft and fond. Now he understood a part of why Bunnie thought so happily about children. It was delightful to have these little creatures close against him, safe and sound.

Quickly, the whole group moved over, hugging and welcoming Bunnie as they came to congratulate them both on the change. Sally specifically pulled Metic into a warm hug, whispering, “You make her so happy… thank you.”

He had no response, she knew, and as they pulled apart, he just smiled gratefully for her words.

Sonic shook his hand with a wink, Rotor lightly pulling the newly organic hedgehog into a side-hug, congratulating him directly.

Then Lita noticed the data-back-up on Bunnie’s hand as the rabbit-woman gently patted her while hugging Lupe in greetings. “Aunt Bunnie! You have a new ring! It’s pretty!”

Bunnie blushed, but smiled.

Rotor laughed, “Whoa, is there another surprise you two want to share with us or something?”

Bunnie turned red, hiding her hands in her face. “J-just the back-ups for all the data. Uncle Chuck thought it… might be…”

Metic pulled her into a comforting hug to let her hide, and grinned up at the group, Dulcy sharing a warm smile with him. “Just gifts from Uncle, but treasured ones, yes.”

Sonic shrugged. “Eh! Not like it’ll take ya long to get her another one, anyway, right?”

Bunnie squeaked in Metic’s shoulder, and the black hedgehog laughed, blushing himself. “We’ll see, yes. Now we didn’t mean to take the focus away from the princesses!” His topic change helped Bunnie relax, and she pecked his cheek in thanks before they both crouched down to hug the girls afresh. “Happy birthday!”

The girls glowed, and hugged them tight.

* * *

Dancing and silliness was the call of the day. The girls had everyone dancing to their favorite music before long. Antoine and Janet laughed as they danced together to the ridiculous music. Lupe went into a play-dance with Rotor and Cat, each trying to dance with her, and the wolf-woman wryly playing coy as the three of them danced around. They were laughing the whole time.

Sonic and Sally danced with their daughters happily, then each other as Lita grabbed Max, and Cathy pulled Tails over to dance with them.

Bunnie found that Metic was an able dancer in his new body. The only time they had danced in the past was the celebration after Robotnik’s defeat, and this time the hedgehog had no fear of accidentally hurting her. They spun around each other and laughed.

Dulcy happily danced in place, not wanting to shake the whole room. She caught Garas smiling at her, and smirked back, tapping his head with her tail. He blushed, and focused anywhere else.

By the time everyone was breathing hard, even the girls, they agreed to take a break from dancing and play games. Experts at their own video-games, they promptly slaughtered all opposition (though Tails managed to fend them off the best).

It was getting near time for the cake-party, so Sally recruited Bunnie to help her. Unfortunately, the girls ambushed them.

“Where are you taking Aunt Bunnie, Mama?” Cathy challenged with put-on authority, arms akimbo.

“Yeah! She’s not supposed to vanish yet!” Lita declared with her.

Charmed, but a bit caught, the two women shared a glance, nervously laughing.

Then Metic hopped down behind the girls. “Ah-hah! I see challengers for my wrestling title… I suppose you’re too busy to try and take it from me, eh?”

The girls spun around, shared a grin, and then tackled him back to the ground, shouting and giggling as Metic played with them.

Sally and Bunnie shared an adoring laugh, quickly hurrying out of sight to prepare the cakes. It was part of the tradition for the girls to each get a small cake instead of one big cake. The others still in the room with the girls either chatted happily, or watched in amusement as Metic played at begging for mercy as the girls held one of his arms and legs up over his back.

When he sagged with defeat at last, the girls leaned over his head, giggling at him. His eyes peeked open, and he smirked before they frazzled his spines, and took off, letting him chase them around the room to get revenge on their hair.

Sir Charles chuckled as he tried to clean up a little bit while the girls were busy. “He’s been waiting for this…”

Max heard him, and nodded. “So it would seem, old friend. I must say, I know him little, but he makes an excellent first impression. I think Bunnie chose wisely, despite the risks implied by his original nature.”

“Agreed on that, sire,” Sir Charles replied with a wink at the retired monarch.

They clapped each other’s backs and took seats to relax.

* * *

Preparing the cakes, Sally and Bunnie were both smiling brightly. Sally loved days like this, where she could really be a mother to her children, and do nice things for them. Bunnie felt similarly happy, but had the added treasure of seeing Metic so light and happy in his own manner as well.

“He’s wonderful with the girls,” Sally said abruptly, giving Bunnie a knowing smile.

Bunnie blushed softly, giggling. “Ain’t he though? He’s jus’ the sweetest man, Sally-girl.”

Sally winked. “And he doesn’t look half-bad either.”

“Sally-girl!” Bunnie protested, almost squeaking as she swatted Sally’s shoulder. “Don’t you go gettin’ any funny ideas now…”

The squirrel laughed as she finished placing the candles on Lita’s blue-ice-cream cake. “Oh relax. I’m sure he’s still the perfect gentleman you adored, right?”

Bunnie smiled warmly as she finished the candles on Cathy’s light, white fluffy cake. “Every ounce of ‘im, yeah. Aw, it’s jus’ so nice ta be able ta give ‘im a real hug, ya know?”

“And I’m sure he enjoys them.”

The poor rabbit blushed fiercely again, but her little smile remained.

“So when _are_ you two getting hitched, anyway?” Sally asked, knowing full-well the reaction she would get with her mischievous tone.

“SALLY!” Bunnie wailed, and grabbed the squirrel in a playful headlock as they both laughed.

“…Uh… need help, you two?” Sonic asked from the doorway.

They both froze, blinking at him, rapidly blushing. They quickly split apart, stifling giggles, and Sally gestured to the cakes. “Sure! You want to grab Cathy’s? I’ll carry Lita’s.”

Sonic winked, picking his cake up, and smirked at Bunnie. “He’s a keeper!”

Bunnie moaned, flailing her hands in helpless frustration. “Would y’all stop makin’ fun a-me!?”

“But you’re so cute when you’re blushing!” Sally protested, and then joined her husband outside before Bunnie could protest further.

Alone for a moment, Bunnie huffed at the kitchen, and marched out, nose high.

* * *

Cuing the whole group, Sally and Sonic started the happy-birthday song, and the girls squealed with excitement and happiness, running over to the table and wagging their legs from their chairs rapidly. Metic found Bunnie, and they shared a soft hug as they joined everyone at the table, a side of it near the open space of the balcony to make sure Dulcy and Garas could join everyone comfortably.

With the two cakes on the table in front of the girls, everyone clapped at the end of the song, and Sally quickly reminded them, “Don’t forget to make a wish!”

The girls shared a look, and then smiled up at her. “But we got everything already!”

A coo of adoration ran around the whole table, even Lupe controlling a pouting giggle at the wonderful sentiment from the twin girls. Sally and Sonic came around to hug them in their chairs, kissing them and patting them. “Then we’re so glad,” Sally whispered for them both.

Sonic winked. “But getting all the candles in one go is still a bit of fun, right?”

Giggling, the girls nodded, puffed up, and blasted the candles out together. Everyone clapped again, and the cake-party got under way.

* * *

The girls would remember their fifth birthday party as one of their favorites for many years. They got to stay up late, have fun with all of their big ‘family’, and everyone was so happy with them as well. They fell asleep playing games as the party began to wind down anyway, and their parents took them to tuck them in.

The whole group shared fond farewells, promising to get together again soon.

* * *

Later that night, Bunnie was walking up the steps of her house with Metic, and she turned to him with a gentle smile. “It was really precious seein’ you with the girls, darlin’… You’ll be an amazin’ daddy when the time comes.”

He blushed gently, but smiled for her words. “Thank you… I hoped I might be as good a father as you would be a mother. Children adore you so.”

She glanced away with a blush and shy smile of her own. “Metic… I know it’s a little late already, but… would ya like ta come inside for a bit? Just a bit.”

Metic smiled gently for her. “I would love to, but I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable in your own home, Bunnie. We can spend time together tomorrow.”

Bunnie giggled softly, nodding to her door. “Please?”

Metic tipped his head, and followed her into her home.

In the living room, Bunnie flopped down on the couch with a wink at him. “Would ya like some tea or somethin’?”

Her boyfriend shrugged easily, and started to sit down in the chair across from her.

Bunnie smirked, and patted the cushion beside her. “Now don’t be silly, Metic. Come ‘ere.”

He blushed softly, but stood back up, and gently sat down beside her. Bunnie smiled at him fondly, her eyes soft with a wistful happiness that he was close and safe with her. “…I wanted ta share somethin’ with ya… now that we can share it properly.”

She saw a bit of fear creep into his handsome eyes. “W-what is it you wished to share?”

Bunnie gently leaned closer to him, and whispered to his ear. “Put yer arms around me, sugar-bot…”

His face melted with soft shock, and he gently tilted his head to hers as his arms wrapped around her supportively, strong and warm. Bunnie rested her head on his shoulder, and pressed her hand to his strong heart. He leaned back with her push, and in just a moment, they were lying together, nestled in their shared warmth.

Metic breathed out from the beauty of the sensation, his cheek resting against her ears along the top of her head. Bunnie smiled softly, her hand caressing his chest as his hands gently stroked her back. She gave a soft moan of contentment. “See now? …This feels so nice, Metic.”

Tears were dripping from his eyes softly. Her breath, her heartbeat, her warmth around him… he had dreamed of this, and never could dreams compare to the reality of it. “…You feel so beautiful, Bunnie…”

With her face nestled near his neck, she smiled sleepily, and reached up, patting his cheek. “Ya always say the right thing, darlin’…”

Drowsy himself, he whispered, “Just being honest.”

Her hand sank softly into the other side of his neck, and she nestled a little closer to him. “That’s what makes it so perfect, Metic… Thank you.” Gentle tears of happiness were trickling from her eyes as well.

His arms gave her a warm, bracing squeeze, and she gave a sigh of appreciation.

They fell asleep that way together. They would both be a bit flushed and embarrassed in the morning, but it would be a fond memory they treasured for the rest of their lives together. Neither could imagine sharing such wonderful warmth with anyone else… it just wouldn’t fit.

…They were happy.

The Beginning.


End file.
